Conservatism

Conservatism is a major political philosophy supporting traditional values or an established social order. Etymologically, the word conservatism implies that conservatives seek to conserve the existing social order or to reinstate an ideal social order now in decline. This can take a peaceful democratic form or violent radical form, and there are historical examples of both.

Values

Different forms of conservatism emphasise different values, including among others these value preferences

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• order over chaos
• support for the intelligent design philosophy of the founding of the universe
• orientation toward the past rather than the future
• the rural over the urban
• unity and homogeneity, over discord and fragmentation
• the natural over the artificial and technological
• existence over possibility
• slow and incremental change over utopian projects
• hierarchy over egalitarianism
• acceptance of inequality over redistribution
• sovereignty over union, in matters regarding the European Union

In addition most modern conservatives support the free market and capitalism, although an economic system as such is not conservative. (The free market, in its present form, is an early-modern innovation). Most conservatives have similar (negative) positions on bio-ethical issues such as abortion and euthanasia.

Related Topics:
Free market - Capitalism - Bio-ethical

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Although they are not strictly speaking a value, conservatives often appeal to organic metaphors, usually a metaphor of society as an animal or plant. The metaphor can provide derived values such as 'rootedness', which usually implies that a society is like a tree, with the roots in the past and the crown in the present, and that cutting contact with the roots would kill the tree.

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Because conservatism includes so much, it is difficult to list contrasting or opposing ideologies. Some libertarians, for instance, are happy to be called conservatives, others regard that as derogatory. Libertarian conservatives would emphasise opposition to what they categorise as statist movements like communism. European fascism, however, drew heavily on conservative ideologies. Attitudes to the state also vary widely, and may be contradictory.

Related Topics:
Libertarians - Statist - Communism - State

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Conservatism is not necessarily democratic. Islamist conservatism is often rigorously hostile to western liberal democracy. Many western conservatives distrust it also, and fear the tyranny of the majority. Western conservatives also staunchly opposed the ?peoples democracies? of eastern Europe during the Cold War, but that can be seen as a dispute on their democratic character. Many western conservatives now oppose the Islamic regime in Iran as undemocratic, but it is also clearly conservative.

Related Topics:
Islamist - Liberal democracy - Tyranny of the majority - Iran

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