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The Contradictions of Conservatism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2013

James Alexander
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Abstract

This article is a study of the contradictions of conservatism. It shows that most modern writers since Oakeshott have defined conservatism in an abstract manner. Here I argue that their definition, although not wrong, is an incomplete definition which is only coherent because it is incomplete. It is only the first stage in understanding conservatism, which has to be understood also as a negation of rival ideologies and, further, as a political position which points to a tradition or truth outside itself and which can, in service of this tradition or truth, be radical. Since it is part of the standard definition of conservatism that it cannot be radical, this means conservatism, taken as a whole, contradicts itself.

Type
Articles
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 48 , Issue 4 , October 2013 , pp. 594 - 615
Copyright
Copyright © Government and Opposition Ltd 2013 

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Footnotes

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James Alexander is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Bilkent University. Contact email: jalexand@bilkent.edu.tr.

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