SDS131R Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Blue Tory, Red Tory, Classical Liberalism
4 Mar 2016
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Sometimes called the political philosophy of imperfection . Share some ideas with classical liberalism but also rejects some of classical liberalism. Replace the social contract with custom and convention, replace rights with obligations, replace individualism with organic whole of the society. Want a strong (but small) government to restrain the passions of the people since human nature is corrupt, deeply flawed not just intellectually imperfect, we are morally imperfect. Restraint through the government but also institutions (religion, family, education) that teach self-restraint, we use these institutions to civilize children and adults. Not focused on egalitarian beliefs or distributive justice. Best society is one steeped in tradition and where change occurs very slowly. Early conservatives = skeptical of promoting individual freedom and equality of opportunity now = often embrace individual freedom and laissez faire capitalism (aligned with. Affirms tradition (customs), supports the maintenance of existing institutions and practices, suspicious of change.
