Conservatism
Inherited wisdom, tradition, and gradual reform over revolutionary upheaval.
Overview
Conservatism holds that human societies are complex, fragile, and shaped by centuries of accumulated wisdom embedded in traditions, customs, laws, and institutions. This inherited order cannot be safely replaced by abstract blueprints designed by intellectuals — however well-intentioned. Reform should be gradual and respectful of what exists. The conservative disposition values continuity, prudence, and the particular over the universal, and warns that revolutionary attempts to perfect society inevitably produce tyranny.
Origins
Modern conservatism was born in Edmund Burke's reaction to the French Revolution. While supporting the American Revolution (which he saw as defending inherited rights), Burke argued that the French attempt to rebuild society from scratch, guided by abstract 'rights of man,' would destroy the social fabric and end in bloodshed — as it did. His insight that tradition embodies practical wisdom that reason alone cannot replicate has shaped conservative thought from Oakeshott to Scruton.
Key Thinkers (3)
Edmund Burke
1729 CE – 1797 CE
The individual is foolish, but the species is wise.
Michael Oakeshott
1901 CE – 1990 CE
In political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea; there is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage.
Roger Scruton
1944 CE – 2020 CE
Conservatism starts from a sentiment that all mature people can readily share: the sentiment that good things are easily destroyed, but not easily created.