1101GIR Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Michael Oakeshott, Traditionalist Conservatism, Age Of Enlightenment
4 May 2018
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L8. The Right
Conservatism
• "Men sail a boundless and bottomless sea; there is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for
anchorage, neither starting-place nor appointed destination. The enterprise is to keep afloat on
a eve keel…ad the seaaship cosists i usig the resources of a traditional manner of
behaviour." (Michael Oakeshott)
• "It is with infinite caution that any man ought to venture upon pulling down an edifice which
has answered in any tolerable degree for ages the common purposes of society." (Edmund
Burke)
Reaction
• Conservatism is reactionary
o But what was it originally a reaction against?
• The 18th century European Enlightenment
▪ I.e. Reason over tradition
In Sum
• Conservative
o Conservation of the existing or traditional social order and its values
o Ideals of stability, social cohesion and order
• The idea of reforming society according to the dictates of reason is a 'fatal conceit' (Edmund
Burke)
• The evolutionary argument
o That society evolves naturally over time and is not some political project
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