French Conservatism/fascism

11 Pages 2708 Words

What truths, if any, regarding man and society do you consider to be expressed in conservative doctrine?

Conservatism, as an ideology is a relatively new phenomenon. It developed mainly in opposition to the French Revolution in 1789 and to the ‘enlightenment’ that preceded it. This ‘enlightenment’, which led to the revolution, was based on the perceived rationality of mankind and of mankind’s ability to reconstruct society according to abstract ideals. Conservatives fundamentally reject mankind’s rationality and tend to be guided more by the principles of tradition, hierarchy, and reform over revolution. According to O’Sullivan, in his work Conservatism, three broad schools of conservative thought are identified. This essay will concentrate primarily on the ‘French Reactionary School’, and particularly, but not exclusively on the thoughts of Joseph De Maistré, Maurice Barrès, and Charles Mourras. The French Reactionary School has been chosen as it offers several differences from almost all other Schools of thought, to the extent that some have seen it as a precursor to fascism. Also, due to restrictions of this essay and the immense diversity of conservative doctrine, a worthwhile account of more than one school of thought would not be possible.
This essay will evaluate and analyse the claims made by members of the French Reactionary School relating to the ‘truths’ about man and society found in their key works and thoughts. Firstly, this essay will discuss the ‘truths’ about mankind found in the writings of Joseph de Maistré and Charles Mourras. It will be shown how these views came about through both a historical view of the nature of man and a belief in the infallibility of God in the first case and a more sociological perspective in the other. A discussion of whether these ‘truth claims’ regarding the nature of man are true at all, looking briefly at some rival perspectives and some of the...