How were the conservatives different from liberals and radicals ? (Class 9 , History , Russian Revolution)
Answers
Conservatives believe in preserving the status quo by upholding traditional values. They tend to draw their authority from the dogma of the church which derives much of its authority from Plato and Aristotle. In the arguments of the absolute idea, Plato says that the real world is flawed, and only true knowledge can be derived in contemplation of the absolute idea. In the republic he advocates the philosopher king to be the ruling class, which reinforced the authority of the monarchy, and likewise the clergy.
Liberalism came much later. You can point to its roots in Aristotle, however he ultimately supported Plato, and the divine right of kings. The first true liberal writings I would credit to William of ockham, most noted for occams razor. He made a very astute observation, an instance of fire is not fire in and of itself. While this might seem obscure, what he recognized was the folly of idealism. It was prone to syntax errors. There are many types of fires. Some flames are blue, others are red. Without this distinction in syntax, we cannot say whether fire is red or blue. This discovery ultimately leads us to Russell's paradox. I can't put links in with phone, I will give you a great example.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, because fruit is good for you. That's why you should eat an orange everday.
Did you see the sleight of hand? I just turned an apple into an orange. They are both fruit. So they are the same set, but they are not the same, so they are both part of a set, and not part of a set.
That right there, will resolve almost every conflict and contradiction in the world. And that is the fundamental building block of liberalism.
A few centuries later, copernicus looked at occams razor, and the universe, and he proposed a radical idea. He said that the sun is at the center of the solar system, and the earth revolves around it. That might sound innocent, however, it meant the church was wrong, and if that is true, then what about divine right? Suddenly the status quo was under attack.
This leads us to radicals. They can be many things, liberal, conservative, Christian, Islam, Marxist, Republican, Democrat. It doesn't matter. What defines a radical is not what they believe, rather it is the extent of the belief. A radical believes they are the true source of knowledge, that they are always correct, and everyone else is wrong. And thus they have the moral obligation to do anything to promote their singular truth.
