ABSTRACT
Conservative ethics for politics comes to rest in the logic of particular traditions. To the conservative the hope of the world is a restoration of the repudiated ethics of political conservatism, whatever may have been the former irresponsibilites of the conservatives themselves. Conservatism develops most naturally in the minds of those who possess social power, but the essential nonrevolutionary position of conservatism does not limit it to positions of dominance. Conservatism can be in the extreme a minority point of view, but the middle ground of social balance is also a common and happy position for the conservative. The conservative tradition of constitutional balance, shown in the writings of the founding fathers in the United States, is an excellent example of this viewpoint. In the light of Western and Christian tradition, the ethics of conservatism is individualistic. The individual as a dependent creature in a divine order has primary responsibility for the standards of society.
