22-05-2026

Key Thinker	Provenance	Ideas
Hobbes	17^th century, during the English Civil War (emphasis on the state of nature, he believed that England during the civil war did not have a proper government - what he wrote was based upon what he saw)	Leviathan (state), respect for authority If you are not scared of the state, life is “nasty, brutish, and short”
Burke	18^th century, during the French/American revolution (emphasis on the state of nature, wrote based on what he saw)	Anti-Jacobine, emphasises the importance of tradition
Oakeshott	Mid-late 20^th - post-war politics (influenced by WWII - reduced world power, feels that Britain is in decline and under threat of Soviet Russia)	Emphasised pragmaticism
Rand	Late 20^th century, asylum seeker from Russia (influenced by Russia and asylum seeking process, run away from Russian revolution, from a rich family - would have likely been killed)	Deep suspicion of communism
Nozick	1970s onwards (influenced by large state)	Suspicious of large government, classic liberal ideas