1.

Recurrently, humans respond to change in a conservative manner, established traditions protecting against unsettling developments. To a great extent, the reasonableness of conservative responses hinges upon external conditions, change being more rational in certain ages.

Today, we may be living in an age in which conservatism is more reasonable. This reflects increasing doubt about the ability of politics to achieve change. Following a replication crisis which suggests that many academic results are spurious or overestimated, there are fewer reasons to trust policy interventions.

Relatedly, there is growing confidence in the integrity of human institutions. In recent years, cultural evolution theory has demonstrated the role of cultural inheritance in adapting species to social and biological environments. Moreover, scholars have emphasized unintended consequences associated with institutional change, reflecting limits on human rationality.

These developments do not entail a case against all change – in many contexts, policy interventions remain reasonable and necessary – yet shift the basis of calculations. Compared to decades ago, conservatism now appears more reasonable.

This is not an endorsement of authoritarianism. Though certain definitions of conservatism emphasize hierarchy and discipline, I understand conservatism as the defence of established institutions. Aside from the archetypal ways in which conservatives oppose change, small-c conservatives might resist change in atypical areas, such as resistance to abortion bans, labour market deregulation and Brexit.

One development presents a serious challenge to my argument: the increasing likelihood of exogenous shocks, primarily associated with the climate crisis. These will justify profound reforms, involving the ruptures which conservatives oppose, yet enhance other arguments for conservatism; if there are great changes in some areas, there is a stronger case for minimizing change in other domains.

2.

Ideologies are associated with epistemic regimes; in other words, different political views reflect how much we think we know about the world. For example, those with high degrees of certainty tend to be less tolerant of others, totalitarian regimes embodying this tendency. Mercifully, liberal democracy is associated with lower degrees of certainty, this system allowing disse...

Posts

Wikitag Contributions

Comments