Note on the politics of imperfection

The politics of imperfection

The politics of imperfection is a name for the conservative outlook that politics must start from the recognition that human beings and their arrangements are flawed. Conservatism is a philosophy of human imperfection: in the conservative view, people rest more on prejudice, habit and settled feeling than on reason, are dependent and fearful of instability, and distrust abstract ideas. Since human beings are imperfect, and the consequences of an action cannot be fully foreseen, it is hard to be sure that any change will be for the better; therefore change is resisted until it is inevitable and then made gradually. Oakeshott sums up the attitude as a preference for the familiar over the unknown, the actual over the possible and the convenient over the perfect, and holds that stability is more valuable than improvement.

Implications. (1) Suspicion of utopian projects and revolution, as Burke showed in his objections to the French Revolution. (2) Respect for tested institutions and inherited rules, since the wisdom of generations exceeds that of any single mind. (3) A need for authority and order to control human appetite. (4) Emphasis on moderation and limited aims: improvement within what exists, never the perfecting of society.

Criticism. The outlook can be pessimistic and can excuse injustice by pointing to human weakness; it is also selective, since it trusts the imperfect people who hold power, while distrusting the imperfect people who want change. Yet it gives a valuable warning against the arrogance of social engineers.