What is Conservatism? (Political Philosophy)

This video examines the philosophical underpinnings of conservatism, what it really means to be conservative in the philosophical sense, and some objections to conservatism.

This series examines five positions in political philosophy and discusses whether US politicians that claim that label actually support policies that are in line with the underlying philosophy. The series is brought to you by our new book: Are All Lives Equal? (#PoliticalPhilosophy #Conservative)

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Information for this video gathered from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Collier-MacMillan Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the Dictionary of Continental Philosophy, and more!

[cliffordhodge]

It seems conservatism is a position taken relative to a particular prevailing state of affairs or status quo, whereas liberalism focusses on all citizens as free and equal and the pursuit of fairness. So it would seem to follow that in a particular case conservatism could well embrace a system which is essentially liberal.

[subliminallime]

As an American it's jarring to hear a definition of Conservatism that includes respect for empirical... anything.

[havenbastion]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It's broke.

[aliebrahimshaffiee]

Lots of fallacies are made by those deploying political 'isms' in set theoretic terms. Thanks

[ryguy]

From this video, it seems like American conservatism isn't entirely conservative, but is conservatism with a little bit of classical liberal philosophy mixed into it.

[derbucherwurm]

I´m a more conservativ german and i really liked your video. You described conservatism in my opinion very good.

Greetings from Germany

[TMMx]

In addition to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it, " conservatives also believe that even if it is broke, don't fix it.

[liaml.e.]

It honestly baffles me the lack of moderation that exists in the political spectrum.

[viktor]

Why did half of this video show objections while only 1/4 of the ”What is Liberalism” showed objections?

[Pfhorrest]

Opposition to centrally-directed change plus support of existing hierarchies seems contradictory, because the center of power is the same thing as the top of the hierarchy. Contrapositively, non-central, grass-roots movements are movements of, by, and for those at the bottom of the hierarchy. So if the conservative wants the existing power structure to remain, then they must want the existing centers of power to do whatever they will; conversely, if they want everything grass-roots and bottom-up, then if the people en masse want change, the 'conservative' in that sense should support that.

There is a consistent view of just general caution toward change, which seems like the most straightforward application of the word "conservative". That could be consistently paired with a grassroots, bottom-up approach, but that would require that there not be hierarchies above those grass roots keeping the little people in their place. Or it could instead be consistently paired with a hierarchical, centralized-power approach, but that would suppress any grass-roots movements that wanted to try things contrary to how the people on top want things to be.

The only way I can think to make consistent sense of nominally being both anti-centrality and pro-hierarchy is in a context where there is some imagined 'rightful hierarchy' of some minority who 'deserve' power over others, but which is not in fact the actual de facto power hierarchy supported and accepted by the people at large (which is the ultimate source of all political power), and the 'conservative' in this sense supports the former over the latter... which actually makes *them* the ones trying to force change from a central fulcrum (to a state where "the right people" are at the top of the hierarchy) against a popular grassroots movement that is actually currently in power.

[Jairam]

Modern conservatives enthusiastically support the growth, expansion, and progression of both the economy and technology, yet technology is the least gradual and empirically tested component in existence.

This is why the Conservative Party is in shambles. The party and its people have sacrificed their true morals and political philosophy in the name of progress in the technological and economical sense.

[monkeythatdances]

How to be conservative:

1. Pick a problem in society
2. Instead of seeking a solution, point to the problems with the people trying to solve the problem
3. Scream out to world "look at these peoples problems!"
4. Use that to justify doing NOTHING about the original problem in society
5. *bonus* use this logic to justify supporting the people actually making the problem worse!

Did I get this right?

[havenbastion]

You need to redo this one with more steel man.

[gianpopo]

Not gonna lie, you got me to watch the video by having philosophy in your title and having a bust in your profile picture 😁

[practicaliching]

It is well known in the psychiatric profession that there is a link between liberalism and emotional instability.

Undoubtedly the two most consistently found relationships are the positive effect of conscientiousness on right-wing voting and the positive effect of openness to experience on left-wing voting. Conscientious individuals are theorised to be more conservative because they take greater heed of social norms, valuing order and accomplishments that are socially proscribed. Open-minded individuals are more accepting of unconventional social behavior and unorthodox economic policies that are generally associated with the left.

There has been reasonably consistent evidence that a third trait, emotional instability, often called neuroticism, increases one’s chance of left-wing views.

[winstonsmith]

I can't understand conservatism uncoupled from Christianity. I can understand where liberalism intersects with Christianity on a few issues. The preamble to the Declaration of Independence is the justification for our Federal government within the limits proscribed in the Constitution. I do believe that human nature is imperfectable but improvable or laws would be meaningless. I believe that government was instituted by God for punishing evildoers and rewarding those who do good.

[yardsale]

I'd love your take on endnotes video series on conservativism ang fascism

[Shevock]

Interesting take. A conservative is one who asks "what ought we to conserve"? Which is the position of Burke and Kirk and Scruton. It is a uniquely English speaking movement, and is resistant to universal applications, meaning not only might it be different in England than Australia than Canada than US, but that it ought to be because a different tradition is being conserved. In this way it has a lot of similarities to postmodernism, which makes sense when you look into the political opposition of the pre-postmodern philosophers and the socialist thinkers in 1930s/40s Germany.

[jeremywvarietyofviewpoints]

Would Conservatism in a Communist society be to preserve Communism?

[kmdash]

I think a pretty good argument for conservativism is in Plato's dialogues where he uses the character Socrates to spell out his views. Plato believed that loge outside a well-ordered society isn't freedom, but anarchy. This might be a premise liberals accept as well, so the job of a liberal would be to argue for why a differently ordered society would be better.