Conservatism and Liberalism in America

The Ideology of Conservatism

In his lecture on The Origins of the Modern American Conservative Movement given to the Heritage Foundation in 2003, Dr. Lee Edwards cited Russell Kirk, author of The Conservative Mind as providing the central idea upon which American conservatism is essentially based, calling it ordered liberty.

Kirk described six basic "canons" or principles of conservatism:

1. A divine intent, as well as personal conscience, rules society;
2. Traditional life is filled with variety and mystery while most radical systems are characterized by a narrowing uniformity;
3. Civilized society requires orders and classes;
4. Property and freedom are inseparably connected;
5. Man must control his will and his appetite, knowing that he is governed more by emotion than by reason; and
6. Society must alter slowly.

Edwards states that "the work established convincingly that there was a tradition of American conservatism that had existed since the Founding of the Republic. With one book, Russell Kirk made conservatism intellectually acceptable in America. Indeed, he gave the conservative movement its name." Looking back at Kirk's claims, one can examine the statements that "A divine intent, as well as personal conscience, rules society", and " Civilized society requires orders and classes."

The Philosophy of Liberalism

A divine intent pre-supposes not only that a divinity is at hand, but that it's intent can be determined. A personal conscience is, of course, a matter of subjectivity. A religious view appears to be essential to conservative thought. According to Professor Gerhard Rempel of Western New England College, "to understand the Enlightenment and the foundations of democracy is to know that doctrinal substance was less important than overall philosophy." It wasn't as much Descartes' reason as it was Newton's Laws. Not abstraction and definition, but rather observation and experience. The real power of reason lay not in the possession, but in the aquisition of truth. The ideal for knowledge was a further development of 17th century logic and science with an emphasis on:

1. The particular rather than the general;
2. Observable facts rather than principles;
3. Experience rather than rational speculation.

Liberalism is more easily recognized for what it is not, than for what it is. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. points out in his essay on Liberalism in America: A Note for Europeans that "the absence of feudalism is a basic factor in accounting for the pervasive liberalism of the American political climate." Schlesinger adds that "The absence of feudalism meant the absence of a static and confining social order, and it meant equally the absence of a profound social passion to uproot and destroy that order." Above all, it appears to be found in the application of critical thinking.

According to Schlesinger, "The use of words like liberalism and conservatism immediately raise questions of definition". Today, each view tends toward defining the other in the most negative of terms. American liberalism in Schlesinger's words, feels that "realism is the source of strength, and that illusion, while productive of momentary enthusiasm, will be in the end a source of catastrophe."

Emerson said, "the basic difference was between the party of the past and the party of the future, between the party of memory and the party of hope. It is still true that the American liberal believes that society can and should be improved, and that the way to improve it is to apply human intelligence to social and economic problems. The conservative, on the other hand, opposes efforts at purposeful change -- especially when they threaten the existing distribution of power and wealth -- because he believes that things are about as good as they can be reasonably expected to be, and that any change is more likely than not to be for the worse."

References:

The Age of Enlightenment by Professor Gerhard Rempel, Western New England College

Liberalism in America by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. from The Politics of Hope

The Origins of Modern Conservatism by Lee Edwards PhD. Heritage Lecture #811

Ralph Waldo Emerson; selected quotes

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