Conservatism In Frankenstein Buck's 'On Being Conservative'
Conservatism is greatly associated with the need to preserve traditions, beliefs, way of life and customs. Conservatism is also contrasted with fast-paced changes. It is now formally defined as believing in values that have been long established and the traditional practices in politics and society, as according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The realm of conservative ideology is broad and it covers everything from the most fundamental and basic belief to the values and practices in everyday life. As for Michael Oakeshott, in his work “On Being Conservative” in the book How Conservatives Think, edited and introduced by Phillip Wallenstein Buck, his writing speaks on the physical practices and the nature of conservatism while arguing that
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Oakeshott describes conservatism as an observation to enjoy our current ways to living life, be that of his time. He mentions how conservative disposition in politics is not necessarily connected with any beliefs about religion, theory nor the universe (Oakeshott, 1975, pp.153-154). But how is conservatism an ideology? For starters, an unbiased analysis would be hard to attain since it’s mostly conservatives themselves who write about conservatism (Muller, 2006, p. 359). However, I believe it is an ideology and the first reason being that is because many writers describe, analyse and explain “conservatism” as an ideology. Let’s look at the sociological point of view, where conservatism is described as an ideology or political principles of a specific social group, trying to prolong and conserve their prerogatives (Muller, 2006, p. 361). When compared to theories of conservatism section in “Conservatism as an Ideology” by Samuel P. Huntington, he writes “Aristocratic theory defines conservatism as the ideology of a single unique and specific historical movement…” (Huntington, 1957). This implies that the origin behind conservatism is based from certain principle and ideas that a specific group of people hold to, making it an
Oakeshott describes conservatism as an observation to enjoy our current ways to living life, be that of his time. He mentions how conservative disposition in politics is not necessarily connected with any beliefs about religion, theory nor the universe (Oakeshott, 1975, pp.153-154). But how is conservatism an ideology? For starters, an unbiased analysis would be hard to attain since it’s mostly conservatives themselves who write about conservatism (Muller, 2006, p. 359). However, I believe it is an ideology and the first reason being that is because many writers describe, analyse and explain “conservatism” as an ideology. Let’s look at the sociological point of view, where conservatism is described as an ideology or political principles of a specific social group, trying to prolong and conserve their prerogatives (Muller, 2006, p. 361). When compared to theories of conservatism section in “Conservatism as an Ideology” by Samuel P. Huntington, he writes “Aristocratic theory defines conservatism as the ideology of a single unique and specific historical movement…” (Huntington, 1957). This implies that the origin behind conservatism is based from certain principle and ideas that a specific group of people hold to, making it an