ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ideas of Edmund Burke, Alexis de Tocqueville, and Michael Oakeshott. For conservative thinkers, society is a repository of the wisdom contained in cumulative experience. These philosophers have in common a discussion of society in terms of those values, traditions, and institutions that have stood the test of time while confronting recurring and enduring challenges and problems. Conservatives seek to learn from such traditions the practical and enduring truths that, when properly upheld, help to maintain long-term commitment to a civil society. For conservatives, no matter how free we are, without the presence of shared traditions (including religion) our lives would lack meaning.
