In The Shadows: Conservative Epistemology and Ideological Value
| Author | Dean Blackburn |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211014393 |
| Published date | 01 August 2022 |
| Date | 01 August 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211014393
Political Studies Review
2022, Vol. 20(3) 433 –447
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/14789299211014393
journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev
In The Shadows: Conservative
Epistemology and Ideological
Value
Dean Blackburn
Abstract
This article intervenes in the debate about the nature of conservatism. Some contributors to
this debate have claimed that this ideology can be defined as an adjectival disposition. They claim,
that is, that a conservative possesses an attitude towards shared values rather than a distinct
set of substantive values. The following discussion interrogates this account of conservatism and
concludes that it can only be coherent if we ignore the epistemological limits of conservative
thinking.
Keywords
conservatism, ideology, epistemology, Oakeshott
Accepted: 12 April 2021
In recent decades, scholars have engaged in a vibrant debate about the nature of conserva-
tive ideology. One controversy within this debate concerns the conservative’s attitude
towards value. Some writers (Brennan and Hamlin, 2016; O’Hara, 2011, 2016) have
claimed that conservatism is a situational ideology whose advocates can, without contra-
diction, endorse different values in different historical conditions. Others, by contrast,
claim that there is a substantive core of conservative values that can be traced through the
ideology’s history. Corey Robin (2018), for instance, claims that conservatism is con-
cerned with the defence of social hierarchy and is, in essence, a reactionary ideology.1
This article intervenes in this controversy. It devotes particular attention to Kieron
O’Hara’s (2011) epistemological definition of conservatism. This definition is one that
we find in some conservative discourses, and it provides a useful point of reference for
exploring broader questions about the nature of conservative thought. The article consid-
ers O’Hara’s key propositions in turn and draws attention to the conceptual problems that
University of Nottingham, UK
Corresponding author:
Dean Blackburn, Humanities Building, University Park, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD
Email: dean.blackburn@nottingham.ac.uk
1014393PSW0010.1177/14789299211014393Political Studies ReviewBlackburn
research-article2021
Article
To continue reading
Request your trial