Conservatism- a political ideology focused on the preservation and maintenance of historically formed forms of state and public life, primarily its moral and legal foundations, embodied in the nation, religion, race, family, property.
key to understanding conservatism as a political ideology is setting to protect the traditional foundations of public life. Originating at the end of the 18th century as a negative reaction of the European aristocracy to the French Revolution and its ideas, conservatism is today associated with those in politics who most fall under the concept of "right". Those who glorify the moral attitudes and norms inherited from the past, oppose radical reforms, advocate the preservation of the established order of things.
At the same time, it would be wrong to identify conservatism with reaction. The reactionary is the one who seeks to return the past, while the conservative is interested in preserving the present, not excluding the possibility of changing what is ripe for change. In this regard, it is necessary to comprehend the following formula of conservatism: "With one hand, change what should be, with the other, preserve what is possible."
Modern varieties of conservatism:- traditionalism;
- libertarianism;
- neoconservatism.
Liberalism- a set of ideological and political trends, political and economic programs that aim to eliminate or mitigate various forms of state and social coercion in relation to the individual.
Finding out the essence and basic principles liberalism, it should be borne in mind that, like conservatism, liberalism is also historically associated with the era of bourgeois revolutions of the 17th-18th centuries. But already as their ideological justification and value system of a new class - the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie, which was replacing the feudal aristocracy. This circumstance predetermined the main idea of liberalism is the idea of realizing the freedom of the individual, which (i.e., this freedom) is presented as a universal, universal value and an enduring good in itself.
Conservatism and neoconservatism
At the heart of conservatism (from lat. conservare- preserve, protect) lie the ideas of the inviolability of the naturally established order of things, the natural hierarchy and privileges of a certain segment of the population, moral principles underlying the family, religion, property.
The French Revolution of 1789 served as a prerequisite for the emergence of conservatism, as a result of which the world was shocked by the radicalism of political reorganization. Therefore, conservatism rejects any revolutionary methods of changing the social order.
In the XX century. conservatism was forced to recognize many liberal values and became much more patient with innovative ideas in politics and public life. But it was still based on the ideas of strengthening the rule of law, state discipline and order, and the rejection of radical reforms.
neoconservatism distinguishes the desire to adapt the traditional values of a conservative persuasion to the realities of modern post-industrial society. Defending such spiritual values as the family, religion, morality, social stability, mutual responsibility of citizens and the state, respect for human rights, neoconservatism finds many of its adherents among voters. Parties based on the ideas of conservatism exist in the USA (Republican Party), Japan (liberal-conservative), England (conservative). And the number of supporters of this ideological movement continues to grow. The Conservatives are building up their political capital in France, Germany and other countries.
Conservatism arose at the end of the 18th century as a reaction to the French Enlightenment and the French Revolution. The conservative ideology was a response to the challenge of liberalism and radicalism. Since conservatism arises precisely as an opposition to liberal views on human nature, freedom, equality and fraternity, it is not considered an independent, "pure" ideology. Conservatism interpreted as an epiphenomenon of liberalism, i.e. a phenomenon accompanying liberalism, an appendage of liberalism. This birth of conservatism did not prevent it from turning into a fairly coherent system of views, which has undergone significant evolution, adapting to the modern world.
The intellectual conservative tradition was developed by the Englishman E. Burke (1729-1797), the French
J. de Maistrom (1754-1821). L. de Bonald (1754-1840). They became the founders of the traditional conservative direction, which was distinguished by its rejection of the nihilistic nature of the French Revolution of the 18th century, bourgeois democracy and individual freedom. The "founding fathers" of the political ideology of conservatism expressed the interests of the aristocracy, those strata that capitalism deprived of a stable social status and class privileges.
To the optimistic view of the liberals on the nature of man, whose mind and will are able to transform society on the basis of freedom, the conservatives opposed the idea of the initial imperfection of human nature, due to which excellent projects for the radical reorganization of society are doomed to failure, since they violate the established order for centuries. The true "nature" of man, the conservatives believed, is generally alien to the concept of "freedom". Only specific historical freedoms acquired by ancestors, tested by traditions and accepted as historical heritage have meaning.
The most important principle of conservative ideology is moral absolutism , recognition of the existence of unshakable moral ideals and values. These moral ideals and values of the individual must be formed by all means of social and state influence and curb the "sinful" nature of man. Politics in this sense cannot be free from morality either.
Another important principle of conservatism is traditionalism . Traditional beginnings are, according to conservatist theorists, the foundation of any healthy society. Social reforms must be based on the spiritual traditions and values created by all previous generations. E. Burke believed that in any society there is a solidarity of generations. Every politician who makes decisions must do it responsibly not only to his contemporaries, but also to his ancestors and descendants. Constructive rationalism of the liberals E. Burke defiantly opposed the apology of "prejudices". It is in "ordinary prejudices", in tradition, that the wisdom inherited from the ancestors is accumulated, and the collective mind, including the political one, is reflected.
The traditionalism of conservative ideology is closely connected with political realism. Doctrinaire approach is alien to conservatism. Political practice, according to conservatives, should not be based on bare theoretical schemes. The reforms that are being carried out in society should be designed not for an abstract person, but for real people of flesh and blood, whose lifestyle, established habits cannot be suddenly changed without great misfortunes. Conservatism returned a sense of historicity to political thought, defended continuity in turbulent revolutionary times. historical development and the preservation of useful parts of the "old public building", instead of inventing abstract constructs on " clean slate"revolutionary history.
Conservatism, especially modern conservatism, has a positive attitude towards the idea of human equality before God. Equality exists in the realm of morality and virtue, perhaps even political equality. But all forms of conservative ideology do not accept social equality and are anti-egalitarian. No society is conceivable without hierarchy and, consequently, inequality. This is the basis of the order corresponding to "nature". Egalitarianism destroys the social hierarchy on which social stability is based. At the same time, anti-egalitarianism does not mean that conservatives are in favor of a rigid pyramidal structure of society. Social mobility both vertically and horizontally is important for social development. Back at the end of the 18th century, E. Burke formulated the principle of meritocracy, according to which power should be in the hands of worthy people, people from various social groups. Having adopted political democracy over time, the conservatives became supporters of elitist democracy, when the democratic mechanism makes it possible to form a professional political elite and puts forward worthy people to power. Worthy - worthy - such is the principle of conservatives in relation to the social status of the individual.
Conservative ideology has a negative attitude towards the trend of politicization of people, which was especially clearly manifested in the 20th century. Private interests are more important to a person than politics. Politics is the sphere of activity of political elites. Participation of the masses in political life must be limited and controlled.
Conservatism tends to focus on local, regional, national values. Society is not scattered into separate grains of sand of individuals, but is focused on the general, the whole, on "we". It is concentrated, first of all, at the local level: in the family, community, parish, handicraft corporation, local government institutions. The social "we" at the local level is a natural source of stability, education, preservation of traditions, and the formation of patriotism.
Conservatism in the 19th century gradually turns into a modification of ideology, which accepts some of the values of liberalism, primarily political ones. The bourgeois, having been ill with revolutions and having won political power, also sought support in new socio-political ideas. Particular attention in conservatism was attracted by the desire for the unity of society, for the means of strengthening the authority of power, for hierarchy, for emphasizing the binding role of spiritual values.
In the 20th century, conservative theories developed under the significant influence of classical liberalism. The so-called market conservatism arose in the USA, which considered the tendencies towards state regulation of the economy as a dangerous break with the liberal traditions of Western civilization, as "the road to slavery" and totalitarianism.
Until the 70s of the XX century, conservatism occupied a peripheral position, was on the defensive in relation to liberal reformism and social democratic theories. The rise of conservatism begins in the second half of the 1970s, and especially in the early 1980s, when political forces came to power in many Western countries, adopting the ideology of conservatism.
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- Introduction
- 1. Conservatism as an ideology
- 2. The ideology of conservatism: origins, essence, evolution
- 3. Principles and attitudes of conservatism
- 4. Conservatism in the context of the ideology of the Belarusian state
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Introduction
The formation of the ideology of the modern Belarusian state does not take place from scratch. It is based on the experience of the development and functioning of long-established world ideologies: liberalism, conservatism, socialism, etc.
The term "conservatism" comes from the Latin "conserve", which means "preserve, protect."
Conservatism is a multilevel and complex social phenomenon. This is:
1) a political ideology that puts forward as priorities the maintenance of the moral and ethical foundations of society, the natural historical established institutions of the state and political procedures, as well as the preservation of stability (order) and continuity, as factors in the sustainable development of society;
2) the totality of parties and movements occupying the main positions on the right side of the ideological and political spectrum.
There are also special situational interpretations of conservatism - S. Huntington, for example, suggested considering it a phenomenon with a historically changing value content: it is “a system of ideas that serves to preserve the existing order, regardless of where and when it takes place, and is directed against any attempts its destruction."
Political conservatism was a reaction to the excessive radicalism of the French Revolution. And if many of his ideas (organicism, the cult of unlimited monarchical power and clericalism, the inviolability of class privileges) were rejected by the subsequent development of political thought, then others (the need for respect for the state and the norms of traditional morality, the admission of only gradual, evolutionary changes in society, criticism of egalitarian psychology and excessive individualism) found their continuation in the ideology of neoconservatism (or liberal conservatism), the key developers of which were A. de Tocqueville, R. Acton, F. Hayek, K. Popper, I. Kristol and others.
This ideology was formed at the beginning of the 19th century and was a counterbalance to liberalism. If liberalism expressed the interests of the bourgeoisie, then conservatism expressed the interests of the landowning aristocracy (England - E. Burke, France - de Mester and de Bonalier).
Conservative ideology opposes the ideal of liberalism and revolutionary radicalism in the transformation of social foundations. The main meaning of the ideology of conservatism is to justify the primordial traditions and social institutions (patriarchal family, community, church, guild, aristocracy, etc.), which are considered a manifestation of natural law, grow in a natural historical way from the natural nature of man and society.
In contrast to liberal views on human nature, which uphold the ideals of freedom, equality, fraternity, conservatives believe that imperfection is inherent in human nature, that a radical reorganization of society is always doomed to failure, because in this case, the established natural order, corresponding to the nature of man, is violated for centuries. completely alien concept of freedom.
For the first time, the formation of conservatism into a relatively harmonious system of views occurred in the works of thinkers who spoke at the height of the French Revolution, the Englishman Edmund Burke (1729-1797), the French Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821) and Louis Bonald (1754-1840). Of course, the palm among these "founding fathers" of conservatism as a socio-political trend rightfully belongs to Edmund Burke. His book "Reflections on the Revolution in France", which appeared in 1790 (still considered something of a bible of conservatism), where he first criticized the French Revolution and first formed the basic principles of the ideology of conservatism. These ideas of Burke have generated numerous followers.
Subsequently, prominent representatives of conservative thought were the French Francois de Chateaubriand (1768-1848), Felista de Lamenne (1782-1854), Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (1816-1882), the Englishman Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), the Spaniard X. Donosa Cortes (1809 - 1853), German Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898). Of the famous scientists of the XX century. the followers of this analytical tradition include the Italian Gaetano Mosca (1858-1941), the Germans Carl Schmitt (1888-1985), Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), the Americans Daniel Bell (b. 1919), Seymour Martin Lipset (b. 1922 ). It should be noted that today in the countries of the West the conservative socio-political tradition is continued by a very impressive number of research scientists and practical politicians.
The term conservatism was first used by the French romantic writer F. Chateaubriand, who gave the name Conservative periodical, designed to promote the ideas of political and clerical restoration. This concept came into wide use in Germany in the 30s of the 19th century, and in England it was officially adopted in 1835, and began to denote the ideology of the feudal-aristocratic reaction of the period of the French bourgeois revolution of the late 19th century, as well as criticism of the ideas of enlightenment from the right and an apology for feudal foundations, and noble-clerical privileges.
In Russia, the foundations of conservative political philosophy were laid by N.N. Karanzin in the Note on Ancient and New Russia (1811), as well as in the History of the Russian State (1804 - 1829).
Among the prominent representatives of the Belarusian socio-political thought, the ideas of Western European conservatism did not have their obvious followers and adherents, due to the peculiarities of the socio-historical development of the Belarusian society, which for a long time was deprived of an independent political path, the opportunity to be the subject of its own historical destiny. However, researchers of the culture of Belarus of the XVI-XVII centuries. tend to assess the socio-political views of S. Budny as moderately conservative, since he is an adherent of an active social activities within existing public institutions. To the leveling social ideas and demands of the state and complete freedom for all, put forward by representatives of the radical trend, S. Budny opposed a model of social order based on peaceful coexistence and cooperation of various social groups developing evolutionarily, without revolutionary upheavals.
conservatism ideology absolutism Belarusian
1. Conservatism, asideology
In political vocabulary, the concept of conservatism long time used with a negative connotation. It served, as a rule, to denote an inert commitment to everything unchanged, outdated in public life and was defined only as a reactionary trend in politics, but recently it has been characterized by a steady interest in this political trend, a desire to rethink its ideological principles. This interest is connected, first of all, with the fact that the 1980s were triumphant for political parties of a conservative orientation in all the leading countries of the West. Interest in conservatism for our socio-political science is also connected with the process of breaking the old paradigm and searching for a new one. It must be assumed that this process will lead to a rethinking of the hierarchy of various ideological and political values that has developed in previous years.
In the literature there are various definitions political conservatism. In the very general view it can be interpreted as a socio-political movement focused on preserving and strengthening the established forms of economic, social and political life, traditional spiritual values, on the denial of revolutionary changes, distrust of popular movements, a critically negative attitude towards reformist projects. This socio-political orientation is inherent in both fairly wide social groups, formalized political forces, and individuals in various countries.
All researchers of conservatism agree that this current of socio-political thought was formed after the French Revolution as a result of a critical assessment of its experience and results. Its fundamental postulates were born as a response, a reaction to the first experience of the implementation of the ideas of the Enlightenment by the French revolutionaries. Of course, conservative thought did not remain unchanged; over the course of 200 years, it has undergone significant evolution, adapting to a changing world.
Conservatism is an ideology aimed at the conscious retention of identity, the preservation of the living continuity of evolutionary development.
Conservatism- ideological adherence to traditional values and orders, social or religious doctrines. The main value is the preservation of the traditions of society, its institutions and values. Conservatives in domestic politics emphasize the value of the existing state and social order and reject radical reforms, which they regard as extremism. In foreign policy, conservatives rely on strengthening security, allow the use of military force, try to support traditional allies, and defend protectionism in foreign economic relations.
Conservatism is a set of socio-philosophical ideas, as well as economic, political, other values and ideals, which, revealing the nature of society, the state and the place of an individual in them, are focused on maintaining established traditions, a cautious attitude to radical changes. Conservatism as an ideology does not always match the programs of political parties that call themselves conservative.
The most important feature of the conservative ideology is that it focuses on the protection of the existing foundations of public life, has a negative attitude towards popular movements and revolutionary changes. Conservatism is based on the priority of continuity over innovation, on the recognition of the inviolability of the order that has developed naturally, as well as the paramount importance in the life of society of morality, family, religion and property.
A conservative reaction to change can be very different: it is open opposition, based on the idea of the modern model of society as justice for all times, and a reactionary focus on restoring the social order that existed in an earlier period. Conservatism does not recognize a once and for all chosen form of social organization, paying attention mainly to the nature of changes and insisting that they should only be gradual, evolutionary.
Its characteristic feature is opposition to certain types of reforms, especially those that proceed from abstract ideas, and not from the objective course of development of activity. Ideologically, conservatism can take many forms.
The following basic principles and position of the ideology of conservatism are distinguished:
§ The principle of the established order of things as the right of prescription (E. Burke). According to this principle society is a product of natural historical development, and its institutions are not an artificial invention, because embody the wisdom of the ancestors.
§ The basis of society is religion, because Man is a religious being.
§ The basis of human behavior is experience, habits, prejudices, and not abstract theories, because Man is an instinctive, sensual and rational being.
§ Society (community of people) is a form of protection of a person from himself and therefore it should be valued above the individual, and human rights are a consequence of his duties.
§ The principle of anti-etalitarianism, according to which people are not equal by nature and therefore differences, hierarchy and the right of the more worthy to rule over others are inevitable in society. The ideology of conservatism recognizes the equality of people only in the sphere of morality and ethics, relations before God and divine justice. Conservatism is consistent anti-etalitarianism. This is justified by the fact that the social hierarchy, i.e. inequality of people is a necessary basis for order, social stability. People are not equal in their abilities, and the attitude of the hierarchy is directed against the power of the inferior.
§ The principle of stability and immutability social order, according to which the existing social system must be protected, because attempts to radically change it, improve it, for example, eliminate the existing evil, lead to even greater evil. According to this principle, there is a presumption in favor of any established system of government, against any unused project.
§ The principle of moral absolutism, according to which there are eternal and unshakable moral ideals and values, since human nature is unchanging.
§ According to the principle of meritocracy, formulated by E. Burke, power should belong to the natural aristocracy, i.e. the most gifted, worthy people, people from various social groups.
§ The principle of regionalism, according to which it is necessary to focus on local, regional, national values and traditions. Hence the importance of the ideas of local self-government.
Modern conservatism, which embraces political democracy, adheres not so much to the orientations of anti-etalitarianism as to elitist democracy, which provides the mechanisms of a professional political elite and the power of the worthy. At the same time, this ideology is characterized by a negative attitude towards the politicization of the property of wide public highways as a trend of the 20th century, leading to the destabilization of society.
Conservatism as a socio-political phenomenon and ideology has undoubted political traits and positive social significance, therefore, it can and should, within reasonable limits, be present in the political life of each country. Without a conservative beginning, it is impossible to ensure the stability of society and its evolutionary development. Conservatism upholds and affirms many of the values that society and any decent person need. Very attractive in conservatism is the sacred reverence for historically established traditions, customs, moral norms and ideals, as well as prudent. A balanced attitude to all innovations and arbitrary transformations. Natural healthy and moderate conservatism is firmly present in the character of the Belarusian people, our national mentality.
2. The ideology of conservatism: origins, essence, evolution
Conservatism is an ideological trend that insists on the gradual change of society, taking into account the established organic collective values and traditions that have justified themselves over time. Conservatism is not a theory (even in a weakened sense of the word), but a special style, or way, of thinking about social problems, within which there are different, often sharply polemics with each other, specific social theories.
Origins.
The birth of conservatism is usually associated with the publication in 1790 of the work of the English political thinker E. Burke "Reflections on the Revolution in France". The main problem of his work is the question of why the English revolution of 1640 gave rise to freedom in society, and the French one degenerated into an unheard-of tyranny. Other prominent representatives of conservatism are the Catholic theologians J. de Maistre ("Study of France", "Notes on Sovereignty", "On the Origin of Political Constitutions"), Louis de Bonald ("The Theory of Political and Religious Power") and the Swiss politician and writer E . Haller.
The general provisions shared by representatives of this trend during the 18th-19th centuries are as follows:
1) The laws of history and society are predetermined by God, and a person cannot speed up the course of history and create fundamentally new social institutions without causing chaos (J. de Maistre: “A person is able to change everything in his field of activity, but he does not create anything, both physically and morally).
2) Human nature is complex and contradictory, and social relations are too complex and intricate - and therefore the transition to a simple social structure, as well as its restructuring according to a rational plan, is impossible and harmful; the improvement of a person can be gradually carried out through proper upbringing and education within the framework of existing institutions (J. de Maistre: “The art of reforming governments does not at all consist in overthrowing them and rebuilding them on the basis of ideal theories”).
3) It is not society that is a product of human activity, but a person is a product of the life of society (education, upbringing), and therefore its forces are insufficient for a radical social restructuring (L. de Bonald: “Man exists only through society, and society creates him for himself” ).
4) Conservative thinkers, one way or another, have the idea of a certain vital principle of the entire real world. For example, in V. Solovyov, Sophia, the Soul of the World, the Wisdom of God, acted as such a vital principle. It was assumed that an attempt by a person to interfere in the natural evolutionary and organic process of the development of society can only bring harm (because society is an organism, and it cannot be rebuilt like a machine). Therefore, any changes can only be partial and gradual.
5) Prejudices and traditions (“hidden collective mind”, “the age-old wisdom of the people”) have an advantage over abstract philosophical and political theories and the mind of an individual (“the mind of sophists and economists”), since they are supported by the experience of generations and naturally complement the laws (Rivarol: "Whatever the judgments or prejudices, they are good because they are stable. And therefore complement the laws so well").
6) Human rights are an abstraction, devoid of historical roots, in contrast to the specific rights of the British or French (i.e. "historical right"), and the individual should not oppose himself to society as a whole (organicism).
7) Laws and constitutions are truly effective if they are based on moral and religious norms (E. Burke: “We know that we have not made any discoveries, and we think that there is no need for any moral discoveries”) and have unwritten character (J. de Maistre: "There are many laws that need to be followed, but which do not need to be written down").
8) The mind of an individual in matters of politics and social order is doomed to error, because it cannot cover the full complexity of the problems existing in this area - which again emphasizes the importance of relying on experience and tradition (J. de Maistre points out that “experience and history almost always contradict abstract theories"; E. Burke admits that "the mind of an individual is limited, and it is better for an individual to use the common bank and capital of peoples accumulated over the centuries").
9) The revolution does not liberate, but destroys a person; At the same time, it is not so much a person who controls the revolution as the revolution controls a person.
Essence
Today, supporters of the ideology of conservatism see its advantage in that, while maintaining its ideological and value core and accepting various modifications (liberal conservatism, religious conservatism, elitist conservatism), it is able to absorb new ideas (social, technological, etc.) and provide answers to the main challenges of our time:
1) global chaos - through the strengthening of nation-states and national-religious traditions, which will provide the world with a true, geopolitical multipolarity and inter-civilizational dialogue;
2) social autonomy - through strengthening the traditional moral and religious values of society;
3) the problem of social atomization - through the consolidation of society on the basis of common spiritual and moral values;
4) the problem of political alienation - through the creation of a fundamentally new model of relations between the elite and society, built on the principles of service and responsibility;
5) the problem of the global shortage of resources - through the promotion of the idea of individual self-restraint in order to meet spiritual needs, as well as the creation of a more environmentally friendly and socially oriented model of the economy.
Evolution.
The term "conservatism" in its modern meaning was first introduced by the French royalist and classic of European literature, Francois René de Chateaubriand. Conservatism originated in England as a direct reaction to the French Revolution of 1789. E. Burke was its founder; S. Coleridge, A. Tocqueville, A. Muller, J. de Maistre, F. Lamenne, L. Bonald and others. The word came into wide use in Germany in the 1830s, in England it was adopted only in 1930- e gg. Conservatism has always opposed, on the one hand, liberalism, with which it shared, however, many important common values, and, on the other hand, socialism. At the end of the 19th century socialism decisively pushed back not only liberalism, but also conservatism. In the 1930s, when the fatality of radical socialism became clear, liberalism came to the fore, insisting on state regulation of the economy and the transfer of a number of social functions to the state. Supporters of conservatism continued to advocate the freedom of market relations. In the 1970s the term “neoconservatism” appeared and gained influence, recognizing in principle the need for state intervention in the economy, but assigning the main role to market mechanisms of regulation. 1980s became a period of victories for political parties of a conservative orientation in many developed capitalist countries.
According to the founders, conservatism is a system of ideas that serves to preserve the existing order, whatever that order may be. Conservatism emerges where and when social institutions face the threat of radical change. Therefore, each time conservatism acquires an ideological form that is opposite to the doctrine from which the threat of change comes. It has no content of its own. For a real conservative, it is not even the truth or fairness of his opinion that is important, but its institutionality, i.e. the ability to protect a given social system, to ensure the retention of state power. Nevertheless, the practical experience and rhetoric of the conservatives make it possible to outline the general provisions inherent in this ideological direction.
The term "conservatism" was introduced into wide political circulation already in the mid-30s of the 19th century. As an ideological movement, conservatism was born at the end of the 19th century. in a crisis of classical liberal ideology caused by the expansion of government activities to regulate the economy in industrialized countries.
In conservatism, the main value is the preservation of the traditions of society, its institutions, beliefs, and even "prejudices", although it does not reject the development of society, if it is gradual, evolutionary. Conservatism allows inequality as a property of society. One of the main features of conservatism is the rejection of revolutionary changes.
Conservatism is a set of diverse ideological, political and cultural currents based on the idea of tradition and continuity in social and cultural life. In the course of history, conservatism has acquired various forms, but in general it is characterized by adherence to existing and established social systems and norms, rejection of revolutions and radical reforms, advocacy of the evolutionary, original development of society and the state. In the context of social change, conservatism manifests itself in a cautious attitude towards breaking down the old order, restoring lost positions, and recognizing the value of the ideals of the past. Conservatism is one of the four so-called basic ideologies (that is, having a tradition behind them and continuing to "work" today) democracy, liberalism, socialism and conservatism. The slogan of conservatism is traditional unity.
The main provisions of conservatism (another interpretation, a modern view):
1) The possibilities of the human mind and knowledge of society are limited, because a person by nature is an imperfect, base and in many ways vicious being. Due to the imperfection of human nature, all projects for the radical reorganization of society are doomed to failure, since they violate the established order for centuries.
2) Moral absolutism, recognition of the existence of unshakable moral ideals and values.
3) Traditionalism. Traditional beginnings are, according to conservatist theorists, the foundation of any healthy society.
4) Denial of the possibility of social equality. At the same time, conservatism has a positive attitude towards the idea of human equality before God. Equality exists in the realm of morality and virtue, perhaps even political equality.
5) Conservatives - adherents of a strict hierarchy of society, in which each person occupies a place strictly assigned to him, corresponding to his status.
6) At first, conservatives expressed distrust of democracy, especially of a populist kind, conservatives became supporters of elitist democracy, when the democratic mechanism makes it possible to form a professional political elite and put forward worthy people to power (the principle of meritocracy - power should be in the hands of worthy people, people from various social groups ). Worthy - worthy - such is the principle of conservatives in relation to the social status of the individual. The participation of the masses in politics must be limited and controlled.
7) In the economic sphere, conservatives, just like liberals, are betting on the development of business and private entrepreneurship. They oppose tight state control over the functioning of the economy. The economy should have maximum freedom. Freedom is interpreted by many conservatives as the right of every person to property and unlimited competition in society. Private property is sacred and inviolable. It is the guarantee of personal freedom, prosperity and social order. Therefore, no one has the right to encroach on private property, to alienate it under any pretext for their own benefit.
8) In the political sphere, conservatives advocate a strong and effective government. At the same time, it must be limited by constitutional and moral norms. The state is called upon to stand guard over private property, human rights and freedoms.
9) In the social sphere, conservatives advocate the creation of a social self-support system in society.
3. Principles and attitudes of conservatism
If we try to isolate the key position of the ideology of social conservatism, which underlies all its other postulates, then its essence can be expressed as follows: understanding of society as a spiritual reality that has its own inner life and very fragile structure; the belief that society is an organism and cannot be rebuilt like a machine.
A closer look at conservatism, as its analysts note, clearly shows three cardinal problems that are still key today both in this theoretical tradition itself and in the struggle of conservatism with other ideological trends. Primarily we are talking about the conservative understanding of the rational in the socio-historical process. The second problem is the attitude towards society. And the third is the problem of revolutions. Let us turn to a conservative interpretation of each of these problems.
One of the central provisions of conservatism, from which many others follow, is the idea that the human mind is limited in its ability to perceive society in its totality, to comprehend the meaning and purpose of the social process and determine the place of a person in this process. All prominent representatives of this tradition believed that social affairs, along with reason, are ruled by Providence, which, according to religious ideas, is understood as a divine power that directs the destinies of people and the whole world to the good. They consider the real social process as the result of trial and error, experience accumulated and passed down from generation to generation, embodied in social institutions and values that a person has not consciously constructed, and therefore has no right to radically change them. Therefore, one of the fundamental principles of conservative ideology and practice is that although we should always strive to improve our institutions, we never set ourselves the task of remaking them entirely, and therefore, in our efforts to improve them, we must take for granted much that we do not understand; we must constantly operate within and within both values and institutions that are not created by us.
The second problem, which follows from the first, is connected with clarifying the essence of society and the relationship of people in this society, as well as with determining the nature of the relationship between society and the state. From the moment of its formation as a current of social thought, conservatives have opposed in solving these issues the supporters of the concept of natural rights and the contractual origin of civil society and the state. The latter proceed from the fact that the state, in essence, is a secondary institution, it arises on the basis of an agreement between people pursuing their own interests, but who are in a pre-civil society. Conservatives, on the other hand, believe that the state is a kind of constantly existing organic integrity, some parts of which appear, change and disappear, but it itself remains unchanged.
The third problem concerns the question of social change: evolutionary and revolutionary. Proceeding from the idea of limited reason in determining the essence and direction of development of social processes, as well as from the idea of the organic nature of society and the state, conservatives adhere to the concept of the historical unity of the past, present and future, continuity and renewal of social ties transmitted from ancestors to descendants. They believe that the future should be derived from the past, and therefore attach great importance to the formation historical consciousness their peoples, respect for the heritage of the past, religious traditions and values.
Hence the sharply negative attitude of the conservatives towards the revolution. Based on an analysis of the revolutionary processes that took place in many European countries from the 18th to the 20th centuries, conservative thought argues that attempts to make a radical break with reality and put into practice a rationally constructed schematic model of society, within which all antagonistic contradictions have been removed, inevitably leads to directly opposite results. Conservatives insist that the human mind is not omnipotent and therefore many mistakes will be made both in the project of the complete reorganization of society and in the course of the implementation of this project.
One of the central provisions for the ideology and practice of conservatism, which, as it were, concentrates all the postulates discussed above, is the concept of order that opposes chaos. In maintaining this order, including in the functioning of social and political institutions, the decisive role is assigned to the state, which is separated from society and rises above it. Only a strong state, according to conservatives, is able to ensure a healthy social order, overcome the egoism of various social groups and subordinate them to a single goal, the common good. Freedom for conservatives is not absolute, it is relative and allowed only within the necessary restrictions. For them, the interests of the state, nation, community are immeasurably higher than the interests of an individual or any social group. Conservatives also consider inequality to be the most important factor of order, since, according to their ideas, no society is possible without hierarchy. Equality, in their opinion, should exist only in the field of morality and virtue, where everyone is obliged to do their duty.
Here, by the way, it will be noted that this feature of conservatism, i.e. adherence to the idea of the supremacy of the interests of the nation over individual, group or class interests, brings it closer to nationalism and such a variety of the latter as fascism. Their supporters have in common admiration for the state: both of them see it as the center of the national spirit, a guarantee of stability and order. But this is where the similarities between conservatism and nationalism and fascism end. Fascism as a political ideology and practice has absorbed a number of new features that distinguish it from traditional conservatism. The Nazis put forward and tried to put into practice not just the idea of a strong state, but a totalitarian state, absorbing the whole society. Unlike conservatives who reject dictatorial forms of government, fascists bow to violence as a means of solving any social problems. Wherever they came to power, the institutions of democracy, the basic political rights and freedoms of citizens were liquidated, and state-organized terror became the main method of exercising power. As already noted, totalitarianism in all its forms has shown its futility, which cannot be said about conservatism.
The stated fundamental provisions of classical conservatism as a direction of social thought underlie conservatism as a political practice. We emphasize that the essence of the latter is a protective approach to the existing social order. This, however, does not mean at all that conservatives deny any conscious changes in public life. They are against only radical transformations, since there are no guarantees that a complete reconstruction of the existing world will lead to a working social system. According to the figurative remark of Karl Popper, a politician who resembles an artist who erases everything from a canvas in order to write on it anew does not understand that he himself and his ideas are included in the old picture of the world and that, having destroyed it, he thereby destroys his own thoughts, and plans, and your utopia. The result is not an ideal social model, but chaos. Conservatives prefer gradual changes in society, which leave the possibility of their further correction.
Conservatism tends to preach and strive to assert the following principles of its ideology:
1) Moral absolutism. Conservatives believe that freedom should not free people from moral precepts. The imperfection of human nature exposes a person to all sorts of temptations, so it is necessary to strengthen the moral and religious order. The activities of state structures must comply with moral standards, but this does not exclude the use of force in the interests of preserving or restoring lost values.
2) Pragmatism. This means that a sober calculation is needed in politics for the sake of profit. In politics, it is not necessary to have permanent friends or enemies, but only state (national) interests should be permanent. Conservatives oppose sharp, cardinal reforms in society, especially since they are categorically against any revolution. It is necessary that the reformed part of society at the same time be many times smaller than that which remains especially gifted and capable people.
3) Traditionalism. This principle means adherence to established principles and traditions, from which the constitution (basic law) and other laws accompanying it should “grow” and improve. They must certainly reflect the result of the centuries-old experience of generations of the people. The continuity of generations must necessarily be reflected in all aspects of society, including public affairs.
Conservatism- teaching and socio-political movement, focused on the preservation and maintenance of historically established, traditional forms of state and public life, its value foundations, embodied in the family, nation, religion, property.
Admiration for traditions and the historical past.
The state and the ruling elite must not only govern society, but also embody the wisdom of the nation.
Justifying decisive action in defense of conservative values.
Restrained attitude towards social changes, a positive attitude only towards those changes that are consistent with the existing order and develop under control, and not synchronously.
A critical attitude to the potential for improving a person and society with the help of political means and methods: only religious faith can make a person better, political laws only prevent him from doing bad things.
Basic principles.
§ Society is a system of norms, customs, traditions, institutions rooted in history.
§ An existing institution is preferable to any theoretical scheme.
§ Pessimism in the assessment of human nature, skepticism in relation to the human mind.
§ Disbelief in the possibility of social equality between people.
§ Private property is the guarantor of personal freedom and social order.
§ Denial of subjective will in the regulation of social life.
Basic political ideas.
§ Traditions determine the social existence of the individual.
§ Protection of family, religion and national greatness.
§ Social inequality and political competition.
§ Refusal of active political interference in public life.
§ Disregard for parliamentarism and elective institutions of power.
4. Conservatism in the context of the ideology of the Belarusian state
At the beginning of the 21st century, ideology and ideological activity are increasingly turning from a private and personal into a public and socially significant matter. Ideology has not only become known from past historical experience as a form of self-knowledge of classes and large social groups of people, but also a form of justice and orientation of states and individuals. Conservatism as a political ideology is not only a system of protective consciousness that prefers the old system of government (regardless of its goals and content) to a new one, but also very specific guidelines and principles of political participation, attitudes towards the state, social order etc.
Modern understanding of ideology:
§ ideology is a set of ideas that expresses the interests of the carrier,
§ a set of political beliefs and attitudes (liberalism, conservatism, socialism, nationalism, anarchism, etc.),
§ a set of ideas that reflect the economic structure of society (rich and poor, producers and consumers, etc.),
§ a system of ideas that serves and justifies certain types of social practice and differs from the theoretical understanding of reality.
Conservatives believe that imperfection is inherent in human nature, that a radical reorganization of society is doomed to failure, since this violates the natural order established for centuries, which corresponds to the nature of a person who is completely alien to the concept of freedom.
The main principles and provisions of the ideology of conservatism are:
§ the principle of the established order of things as "the right of prescription". According to this principle, society is a product of natural historical development.
§ Religion is the basis of civil society
§ The basis of human behavior is experience, habits, prejudices, and not abstract theories.
§ Society is a form of protection of a person from himself and therefore it should be valued above the individual, and human rights are a consequence of his duties.
§ the principle of anti-egalitarianism, according to which people are not equal by nature and therefore differences, hierarchy and the right of the more worthy to rule over others are inevitable in society. The ideology of conservatism recognizes the equality of people only in the sphere of morality and ethics.
§ the principle of stability and immutability of the social system, according to which the existing social system must be protected.
§ the principle of moral absolutism, according to which there are eternal and unshakable moral ideals and values, since human nature is unchanging.
§ the principle of "meritocracy", where power should belong to the "natural aristocracy", i.e. the most deserving people, people from various social groups.
§ the principle of regionalism, according to which it is necessary to focus on local, religious, national values and traditions. The ideas of local self-government are relevant and important.
It is important to note that conservatism acts as an ideology that fundamentally does not have the ideal of a perfect social order. It acts only in defense of the social institutions that have been tested by experience and time when they are under threat. The fundamental practical idea of a conservative ideology is traditionalism - a setting for the preservation and protection of old patterns, ways of life, values that are recognized as universal and universal. The most effective basis of government is the combination of the constitution with tradition. Conservative ideologists give preference to the idea of practical action, the philosophy of pragmatism, adaptation to circumstances, i.e. opportunism. Pragmatism, opportunism, an orientation towards compromises are important premises of conservative thinking.
Contrary to generally accepted opinions, it is hardly possible to admit that in the early 1990s Belarus went through a full-fledged nation-building. Liberal reforms in Belarus were slowed down and modified by significant "national peculiarities". The traditional conservatism of Belarusians had a huge impact on this process: it ensured a relatively slow pace of liberal reforms. In addition, they were hindered by the internal struggle between the functionaries of the state apparatus: the vast majority of the ruling elite of Belarus was formed as the Soviet administrative elite - the directorate of large enterprises. This led to the subjective rejection of the shock deindustrialization project on the part of this social group. However, such subjective rejection was based on significant objective premises. So, if in other countries the total privatization and dismantling of industry was carried out with relatively minor negative social consequences, then in Belarus, the former assembly shop of the USSR, such measures would have left more than half of the country's able-bodied population without a livelihood, which would have had the most adverse consequences not only for socio-political stability, but also for statehood in general. Therefore, the “conservatism” of the Belarusians had and still has a completely rational explanation.
However, the general focus of the studies carried out in the 90s of the 20th century. reform was, of course, liberal. Measures traditional for "shock therapy" were implemented: large-scale privatization, liberalization of regulation of business entities, restructuring of political life along the lines of classical parliamentary democracy. The implementation of these measures, running into socio-cultural inertia and adherence to Soviet meanings and stereotypes of the majority of the population, also required the organization of powerful work to change the dominant ideological matrix.
The main direction in this work was to stimulate the development of nationalist sentiments, primarily through policy in the field of culture and education. These transformations, however, were not of such a radical nature, which modern Belarusian official propaganda is trying to ascribe to them. Thus, the law "On Languages" adopted in 1990 declared Belarusian language the only state one, but also took into account the interests of the country's linguistic minorities. In addition, the introduction of this law into force was extended in time.
Nevertheless, in the conditions of the early 90s for Belarus, which a few years ago was considered the most union of all the union republics, "even such measures were radical (besides the fact that, purely technically, the country was not ready to take such measures). Belarusians , who had the richest experience of interethnic communication and organically accepted Soviet internationalism, studied in Russian for decades and communicated in it, could not accept such a sharp turn. One of the results of the development of these trends was a rather harsh reaction on the national question after winning the 1996 referendum the pro-Soviet part of society, headed by President A.G. Lukashenko.Many Belarusian-language schools were transferred back to Russian, some were closed, etc.
Yes, the Belarusian society must develop, but this must be done, first of all, within the framework of its own cultural tradition. Borrowing ideals, values, and goals must be approached with caution. Our own traditions, ideals, values, goals and attitudes form the backbone of our people. They are not invented, but suffered by our people, the result of the natural adaptation of society to the surrounding natural and social worlds.
The introduction of alien attitudes can never make this or that nation look like a Western one, but it can destroy the foundations of an original civilization. In this case, it can be said with all certainty that not only the culture of the people will disappear, but the people themselves.
Thus, conservatism as a socio-political phenomenon and ideology has undoubted positive features and positive social significance, therefore, it can and should, within reasonable limits, be present in the political life of each country. Without a conservative beginning, it is impossible to ensure the stability of society and its evolutionary development. As noted in the report of the President of the Republic of Belarus A.G. Lukashenko “On the state of ideological work and measures to improve it”, individual elements the ideologies of conservatism “are by nature inherent in Belarusians in such traditional features as “kindness”, “commemoration”, “tallerance”, “coolness”. It's already in the blood. Our generation does not know this, it does not remember, but the previous generations apparently lived under the dominance of this conservative approach in ideology. And many concepts today do not lose their relevance. You have to be good conservatives in the good sense of the word. We by no means discard many of the ideas of the ideology of conservatism.”
Conclusion
Despite the fact that liberalism and conservatism are two different approaches to the consideration and solution of socio-political problems, they nevertheless coexist quite peacefully with each other in all Western societies. Modern parliamentary democracies alternately choose one or the other approach in solving the pressing problems of social development. It follows from this that one cannot assume in advance that one of these political traditions, for example, the conservative one, is "worse" and the other, the liberal one, is "better." It is not difficult to see that in our country today, when discussing various public problems different, essentially also "liberal" and "conservative" approaches to their solution are proposed. From our point of view, the current political life lacks conservatism, i.e. careful attitude to the heritage of the past, preservation of all the best in public relations, which was achieved both in the pre-October period of our history and in Soviet times. The truth, apparently, lies in a reasonable combination of these two political approaches.
Thus, it can be argued that there is no insurmountable line between conservative and liberal political positions. In every society, among various categories of citizens, there is a tendency towards one or another type of political consciousness. This is due to social, group, professional, age and individual features of people. According to analysts, all over the world people associated with the army and public order are more conservative, and representatives of the artistic intelligentsia are more sensitive to the topic of personal freedom. The older generation tends to be more conservative, while the younger ones are more liberal.
Moreover, both conservative and liberal approaches to various socio-political phenomena can and should be combined in one person. For how else can continuity be ensured in the implementation of socio-political innovations, if not by careful attitude to the heritage of the past? So in politics one could be not only a "pure" liberal or conservative, but also a liberal conservative, and vice versa. Actually, it is precisely as liberal-conservative that one can characterize the socio-political views of such prominent thinkers as the already mentioned French historian and politician Alexis de Tocqueville, the English philosopher and sociologist Karl Popper and the Austro-American economist and philosopher Friedrich von Hayek. The same position is typical today for many other scientists and politicians in Western countries. Both principles - conservative and liberal - are also manifested in the political behavior of the majority of citizens of these countries, who invariably support moderately conservative or reformist programs and refuse to trust radical socio-political projects.
Bibliography
1. Search engines Internet: Google Yandex.
2. Comb V.A. "Fundamentals of the ideology of the Belarusian state." 3rd edition; Minsk, publishing house MIU 2010.
3. Lukashenko A.G. On the state of ideological work and measures for its improvement. Report of the President of the Republic of Belarus at a permanent seminar of senior officials of republican and local government agencies March 27, 2003 / / On the state of ideological work and measures to improve it: Materials of the permanent seminar of republican and local state bodies. -Mn., 2003.
4. Babosov E.M. Fundamentals of the ideology of the modern state. - Mn., 2004.
5. Fundamentals of the ideology of the Belarusian state: History and theory. Tutorial for students of institutions providing higher education; 2nd ed. / S.N. Knyazev and others - Mn., 2006.
6. Yaskevich Ya.S. Fundamentals of the ideology of the Belarusian state. - Mn., 2004.
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CONSERVATISM (from the Latin conservo - to protect, preserve), in a broad sense - a designation of the mindset and life position, the characteristic features of which are adherence to tradition - social, moral, religious, the associated distrust of any radical innovations and the preference for slow, gradual changes (" organic evolution). According to the definition of one of the most prominent ideologists of British conservatism, M. Oakeshott, “to be a conservative means to prefer the known to the unknown, the tested to the unknown, the fact to the riddle, the essential to the possible, the limited to the boundless, the close to the distant, the sufficient to the excess, the convenient to the ideal.. .” (Oakeshott M. Rationalism in politics, and other essays. L., 1962. P. 169). In this sense, conservatism is not associated with any particular theory, it exists mainly latently and receives one or another ideological form as a response to challenges addressed to a particular society and undermining the existing way of life.
In a narrower sense, conservatism is one of the socio-political movements of the 19th-20th centuries, the ideology of which, however, is difficult to systematize due to the diversity of those religious, cultural, historical, and national traditions that conservatives usually refer to. Unlike liberalism and socialism, conservatism, which does not have the ideal of a perfect social order, is defined by S. Huntington as an "institutional ideology", that is, acting in defense of existing social institutions when they are under threat.
The emergence of conservatism as a political trend in the late 18th and early 19th centuries is associated with a reaction to the events of the French Revolution of the 18th century. It received its initial expression, first of all, in the program “Reflections on the Revolution in France” (1790) by E. Burke, as well as in the works of J. de Maistre, L. Bonald, early F. R. de Lamenne, S. Coleridge, German publicists and political thinkers F. Gents, A. Müller, and others. The term took root thanks to the name of the journal Le Conservateur published by F. R. de Chateaubriand in 1818-20. Common to this early political conservatism was a negative attitude towards attempts to recreate society according to some kind of “rational” project: the claims of the enlightening “autonomous” mind with its abstract concepts of an ideal social order were opposed by the authority of tradition - collective beliefs, mores and customs, in which the the centuries-old experience of this people, represented by such historically established institutions as the Church and the state (religion as the “basis of civil society” for Burke, the union of the “throne and altar” for J. de Maistre, etc.). Tradition is understood by Burke as a successive connection not only with past, but also with future generations. The fundamental values transmitted by tradition have their source in a transcendent moral order, established by God and beyond human understanding. Evil is initially rooted not in certain public institutions, as J. J. Rousseau believed, but in human nature itself, which bears the stamp of original sin. The revolutionary demands for equality and liberal doctrines based on social atomism were opposed by the concept of society as a hierarchically arranged organic whole, in which different individuals and groups, by virtue of tradition, perform different tasks for the benefit of this single whole. The social contract theory was dismissed as a rationalist fiction.
Conservatism in the Anglo-Saxon world was more liberal than in the countries of continental Europe, where the central role in maintaining social stability was assigned to the state and the Church. E. Burke, a defender of personal freedom and British parliamentarianism, attached great importance in the formation of the individual to "small clans" - the family, guilds, associations. K. Metternich, the most prominent conservative politician of the Restoration era, believed that it was impossible to transfer the principles of the British constitution to the European continent. The clerical-monarchical ideas of the French traditionalists and a number of German romantics largely determined the ideology of the Holy Alliance. A number of philosophical and legal concepts developed primarily in Germany are associated with early conservatism: the historical school of law (F.K. von Savigny), etc.
The first political party, which began to be called "conservative" from the 1830s, was the British Tories (see Conservative Party), whose leader R. Peel saw the task of the party in carrying out reforms while maintaining public order. Throughout the 19th century, along with rapid industrialization, urbanization, and the completion of the formation of nation-states, a gradual transformation of conservative ideology and politics took place: conservative parties began to express the interests of not only the privileged classes of the "old order", but also industrialists, agrarians, urban petty and middle bourgeoisie. In France, along with the conservatism of the legitimists from the "incomparable chamber", by the 1830s, "liberal conservatism" (the term was introduced by F. Guizot) was being formed, which was oriented by the supporters of Louis Philippe. In Germany, where conservatism was most associated with the idea of preserving the "old order", there was also the "reform conservatism" (Reformkonservatusmus) of K. vom Stein. In the UK, liberal political reforms that gave the majority of the population the right to vote were carried out by the Tory cabinets - Peel and B. Disraeli. O. von Bismarck and Disraeli became the most prominent conservative politicians of the 2nd half of the 19th century. The conservatism of this era often merges with nationalism. By the beginning of the 20th century, extreme right-wing conservative parties also emerged (for example, Action Francaise, headed by Ch. Maurras).
The basic principles of Russian conservatism were formulated in the late 18th and early 19th centuries by M. M. Shcherbatov and N. M. Karamzin and were further developed in “ official nationality theory (Count S. S. Uvarov, N. G. Ustryalov and others), in the teachings of the Slavophiles (A. S. Khomyakov, Yu. F. Samarin). From the point of view of Russian conservatives, the autocratic form of government corresponded to the historical identity of the Russian people and was considered by them as the only source of reforms and a guarantor of order in society. The most prominent representatives of conservatism in Russia are M. N. Katkov, N. Ya. Danilevsky, K. N. Leontiev, K. P. Pobedonostsev, L. A. Tikhomirov and others. The views of such Russian writers and poets as F. I. Tyutchev, N. V. Gogol, A. A. Fet, N. M. Leskov, F. M. Dostoevsky. In general, the "counter-reforms" of the 1880-90s during the reign of the emperor had a conservative character. Alexander III. In the second half of the 19th century, so-called liberal conservatism appeared (B. N. Chicherin, P. B. Struve, and others). At the beginning of the 20th century, an organizational unification of conservative forces took place (“Russian Assembly”, the Union of the Russian People, etc.), nationalism became one of the basic principles in justifying conservatism (M. O. Menshikov and others). After the February Revolution of 1917, the ideology of conservatism lost its influence in Russia. In emigration, conservatism was represented by the works of a number of Russian thinkers (I. A. Ilyin, the concept of "spiritually free conservatism" by S. L. Frank, etc.).
After the 1st World War, the largest European monarchies disappeared, and with them, conservatism, which was focused on preserving the throne and the altar, practically became a thing of the past. In conditions when there was a threat to the established political and economic institutions (communism, national socialism), liberalism acquired protective functions, and therefore liberal conservatism acted as the ideology of the main right-wing parties. At the same time there was a radicalization of some of the conservatives, who adopted some of the program provisions of the socialists. With the greatest force this manifested itself in Weimar Germany, where the ideology of the "conservative revolution" emerged.
After World War II, the programs of the major right-wing parties in Western Europe combine elements of liberalism and conservatism. In the 1970s, neo-conservatism emerged in the United States and Great Britain, which had a noticeable impact on the policies of the governments of R. Reagan and M. Thatcher. In the controversy with liberal political philosophy, the works of the followers of communitarianism, partly coinciding with the ideology of the so-called social conservatism (a combination of the principles of personal freedom and social responsibility), left a noticeable mark.
In Russia, the reaction to the radical reforms of the 1990s caused the emergence of various versions of conservatism, both from the ideas of I. A. Ilyin (A. I. Solzhenitsyn and others) and from the experience of Soviet “real communism” (A. A. Zinoviev and others).
Lit.: O'Sullivan N. Conservatism. L., 1976; Kondylis R. Konservativismus. Geschichtlicher Gehalt und Untergang. Stuttg., 1986; Remound R. Les droites en France. R., 1988; idem. Les droites aujourd'hui. R., 2005; Gottfried R.E. The conservative movement. 2nd ed. N.Y., 1993; Manheim K. Conservative thought // Manheim K. Diagnosis of our time. M., 1994; Schildt A. Konservatismus in Deutschland. Von den Anfӓngen im 18. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart. Munich, 1998; Russian conservatism of the 19th century. M., 2000; Gusev V. A. Russian conservatism. Tver, 2001; Kirk R. The conservative mind: from Burke to Eliot. 7th ed. Chi., 2001; Nisbet R. Conservatism: dream and reality. 2nd ed. L. a. o., 2002; Chernavsky M. Yu. Religious and philosophical foundations of conservatism in Russia. M., 2004; Repnikov A.V. Conservative ideas about the reorganization of Russia (the end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th century). M., 2006; Pipes R. Russian conservatism and its criticism: a study of political culture. M., 2008.
A. M. Rutkevich, A. A. Kulikov.
French conservatisme from lat. conservare - protect, preserve) - one of the main directions of political philosophy, which is expressed in a historically specific political ideology. Elements of conservatism can be found in Aristotle. Since then, attempts to formulate the principles of conservatism have not ceased in Western thought. The ideologists of conservatism include E. Burke and M. Oakeshott (1901-90).
Burke, being a member of the Lower House of the British Parliament from the Whig party, formulated the principles of conservatism in his works on specific problems of British, European and world politics of the 2nd floor. 18th century The event that allowed him to present the credo of conservatism with maximum clarity was the French Revolution of 1789. For Burke, it appeared as the maximum evil that people who are deprived of a correct understanding of their nature and the laws of human society can inflict on themselves. The basic principles of such an understanding can be reduced to the following: 1) man is a religious being, and religion forms the basis of civil society, 2) society is a product of historical development, and its institutions embody the wisdom of ancestors; 3) man as a being of instinct, feeling and reason is better guided by experience, habit and prejudice than by abstract theories; 4) evil lies in human nature itself, and not in public institutions; the community is a form of protection of a person from himself and therefore it should be valued above the individual, and his rights are only a consequence of duties; 5) people are by nature unequal and therefore differences, hierarchy and the right of some to rule over others are inevitable in society; 6) the existing social system must be protected, since usually attempts to eliminate evil lead to causing even more evil, which does not at all mean denying the need for change (Burke E. Reflections on the Revolution in France. L., 1790; Russian translation 1992, p. 85).
It should be noted that any attempt to abstract these principles from the context of thought and turn them into a kind of "creed" or list of obligatory beliefs is protested by representatives of conservative philosophy. Oakeshott, in one of his essays, insisted that "the predisposition to being a conservative in politics does not at all oblige us to hold these beliefs as true, nor even to assume that they are true" (OakeshottM. On Being Conservative. - Kirk R. (ed.), The Portable Conservative Reader, N. Y, 1982, p. 585). The traditional reluctance of conservatives to reduce their worldview to a universal theory, to define it more as a "predisposition", but by no means as a rational doctrine, leads to the fact that conservatism is deprived of its own dynamics. As S. Huntington stated: “The findings of conservatism are simply parallel ideological reactions to similar social situations. The content of conservatism is essentially static. Its manifestations are historically isolated and discrete. So, paradoxically, conservatism, being the defender of tradition, itself exists without tradition. Conservatism is this call to history, itself without history” (Huntington S. Conservatism as an Ideology. - “The American Political Science Review”, 1957, No. 51, p.469).
Such an understanding of conservatism allows us to consider this political ideology functionally - as a response to the challenges facing a particular society with its specific economic, political and cultural issues. There is no need to reduce it to a mere aristocratic reaction to the French Revolution of 1789, nor to turn it into a supra-historical "eternal" philosophy. Conservatism, as an ideology that fundamentally does not have the ideal of a perfect social order (there is no “conservative utopia”), is defined by Huntington as “institutional”, that is, acting in defense of existing social institutions when they are under threat. In contrast to "ideational" ideologies (liberalism and socialism), which have their own social ideal (Ibid., p. 458). It follows from this that it is preferable to build a typology on the basis of historical originality, as did N. Sullivan, who proposed to distinguish between "reactionary", "revolutionary" and "moderate" conservatism, represented respectively by France, Germany and Great Britain / USA (see: OSullivan N Eatwell R., Wright A. (eds), Contemporary Political Ideologies, L, 1993, pp. 52-53.
It is a mistake to bury conservatism just because it temporarily transfers its functions to liberalism as an ideational ideology. So did J. Weiss, who concluded his work with the conclusion that after 1945 “the history of European conservatism ended” (Weiss J. Conservatism in Europe 1770-1945. Traditionalism, Reaction and Counter-Revolution. L., 1977, p. 173) . There is a different opinion. For example, Gray J. Enlightenmentss Wake. Politics and Culture at the Close of the Modem Age. L.-N. Y , 1997, p. 119), foresees the transfer - with the aim of preserving "liberal civilization" in the UK - of the political function of conservatism to the left. They, Gray hopes, will be able to preserve and nurture the conservative "grains of truth", which now include only three principles: 1) a person is not a representative of universal humanity, but a product of a specific culture; 2) progress and continuous improvement are possible, but meaningless; 3) cultural forms are primary in relation to economic and political institutions. And if such a transformation occurs with conservatism, then in the new century it will turn out to be the institutional counterpart of “multiculturalism” as an ideological ideology.
In Russia, the foundations of conservative political philosophy were first laid by H. M. Karamzin in his “Note on Ancient and New Russia” (1811). Subsequently, Russian conservatism was most clearly represented by K. N. Leontiev and K. P. Pobedonostsev, L. A. Tikhomirov and V. V. Rozanov. A classic example of conservative criticism of the Bolshevik revolution is the book by N. A. Berdyaev “The Philosophy of Inequality. Letters to Foes on Social Philosophy (1923), which he subsequently abandoned. Political philosophy was developed most thoroughly from the standpoint of "spiritually free conservatism" by S. L. Frank in his book "The Spiritual Foundations of Society" (1929).
Lit .: Mestu J. de. Reflections on France. Moscow, 1997; Manheim K. Conservative thought. - In the book: He. Diagnosis of our time. Moscow, 1994; Gormozer G., Frenkin A. A. New conservatism: a challenge for Russia. Moscow, 1996; Pains R. Russian conservatism in the second half of the nineteenth century. Moscow, 1970; Russian conservatives. Moscow, 1997; OSullivan N. Conservatism. L., 1976; Scruton R. The Meaning of Conservatism. L., 1980; Nisbet R. Conservatism. N.Y., 1986; Miner B. The Concise Conservative Encyclopedia. N.Y., 1996.
L. V. Polyakov
Coincidence originated in England as a direct reaction to the French Revolution of 1789. E. Burke was its founder; S. Coleridge, A. Tocqueville, A. Muller, J. de Maistre, F. Lamenne, L. Bonald, and others. For the first time, the term “K.” was used in the early 19th century fr. writer F. Chateaubriand, who gave the name "The Conservator" to the periodical. The word came into wide use in Germany in the 1830s, in England it was adopted only in the 1930s. K. always opposed, on the one hand, liberalism, with which he shared, however, many important common values, and on the other - socialism. In con. 19th century socialism resolutely pushed back not only liberalism, but also socialism. In the 1930s, when the fatality of radical socialism became clear, liberalism came to the fore, insisting on state regulation of the economy and the transfer of a number of social functions to the state. K.'s supporters continued to advocate for the freedom of market relations. In the 1970s appeared and acquired the influence of the so-called. neoconservatism, which recognizes in principle the need for state intervention in the economy, but assigns the main role to market mechanisms of regulation. 1980s became a period of victories for political parties of a conservative orientation in many developed capitalist countries.
K. can be characterized as a theoretical understanding of traditionalism - a more or less universal tendency to preserve old patterns, established ways of life. To. assumes respect for the wisdom of ancestors, the preservation of old moral traditions, a suspicious attitude towards the radical transformation of social in-t and values. K. understands society as a special reality that has its own inner life and a very fragile structure. He is convinced that society is a living and complex organism and cannot be rebuilt like a machine.
Philos. K.'s predecessors were English. “moral philosophers” D. Hume, A. Smith and others, who believed that social in-you are not the implementation of any plans or projects, but are rather products of spontaneous, going without a preliminary plan of human activity and the results of a gradual selection of the most effective forms. K. rejects the "engineering" view of society, according to which it is capable of consciously, according to a predetermined project, control and direct its evolution. K. emphasizes that the main social institutes, moral traditions and practices of capitalist society - the sovereignty and autonomy of the individual, private property and private enterprise, political and intellectual freedom, democracy and the rule of law - are spontaneously developed in the course of cultural evolution, without k.- l. preliminary plan. Social progress is a journey of trial and error. “The mind of an individual is limited, and it is better for an individual to use the common bank and capital of peoples accumulated over the centuries” (E. Burke).
K. as a way of thinking gravitates towards concrete thinking: conservative reformism is concerned with individual details, replacing some single factors with other single factors (“improvement”) and does not seek to change the system as a whole in order to eliminate inconvenient facts. Dr. a key feature that distinguishes conservative thinking is its interpretation of freedom. Liberalism accepts freedom as the right of an individual to act according to his own will, and, first of all, as an opportunity to enjoy the inalienable rights of a person. The freedom of the individual is limited in this case only by the analogous freedom of other people. K. does not attack the very idea of freedom, but questions the underlying idea of equality. It is argued that people are fundamentally unequal, unequal in talent and ability, unequal in their very essence. “Freedom does not consist in the ability to act in one way or another according to arbitral decisions, freedom consists in the ability to preserve oneself and live in accordance with the deepest essence of one's own personality” (F. Stahl). Another point that separates the supporters of accelerated progress and conservatives is that progressive thought characterizes reality not only in the category of the possible, but also in the category of the norm; Conservative thought, on the contrary, tries to understand reality as the result of the influence of real factors and comprehend the norm in the category of reality. “The special character of the conservative experience of phenomena in a wider context is based on the approach from behind, from the side of their past. For progressive thought, everything in the final instance acquires its meaning because of something outside or above itself, from a utopia of the future or from correlation with a transcendent form. In turn, the conservative sees any significance of the phenomenon in what stands behind it, or in the past as the germ of evolution. Where a supporter of progress will think in terms of norms, a conservative will think in terms of germs” (K. Manheim).
The methodologically conservative critique of thinking based on the idea of natural law included the following main points: conservatives replaced reason, which was constantly referred to
their opponents, such concepts as "history", "life", "nation"; the deductive inclinations of the opponents were countered by the conservatives with the idea of the irrational nature of reality; in response to the liberal postulate of the essential similarity of individuals, conservatives raised the problem of their radical difference; To the liberal belief that all political and social innovations have universal application, the conservatives countered the notion of the social organism. “A conservative thinks in terms of “We”, while a liberal thinks in terms of “I”. The liberal analyzes and isolates various cultural fields: Law, Government, Economics; the conservative strives for a generalizing and synthetic view” (Mannheim).
Contemporary culture is trying to combine two trends: the respect for the freedom of the individual, which is characteristic of classical liberalism, and the traditional defense of such values as morality, family, religion, law and order, etc., which is traditional for culture. Now there is practically no independent pure conservative or liberal tradition. The direction of thought, called liberal in a broad sense, organically absorbed the main elements of K.
Opposition to socialism, which puts forward a plan for a radical collectivist (in particular, communist) reorganization of society, ultimately led to a rapprochement and even merging of liberalism and capitalism, which always remained in positions of defense of the basic values of modern capitalist society.
About Migranyan A.M. Rethinking conservatism // Questions of Philosophy. 1990. No. 11; Manheim K. Diagnosis of our time. M., 1944; Gadzhiev K.S. political science. M., 1996; Ivin A.A. Philosophy of history. M., 2000; Stahl F.J. Die gegenwartigen Partien in Staat und Kirche. Berlin, 1863.
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