Classifying Viewpoints 15sensing and feeling aspect of his nature. Since Aristotle pro
claimed reason as the element in which man has his essence,
conservatives obviously believe in the primacy of reason over
the feelings and emotions. The problems men have are a product
of their defective human nature, rather than of a defective social
order. Problems will always be with us. At best, through reason,
authority, tradition, self discipline, and a faith in God, man
should be able to prosper in this life— as Aristotle said, “through
good work and good fortune.”
The liberal views man as basically good. He sees man as an
integrated whole, mind and body acting with and in response to
his environment. With man naturally inclined to do good, and
with an unlimited ability to control his own destiny, liberals tend
to be optimistic about man, the future, and the eventual perfect
ibility of the social order. They see man, unfettered, as being able
to control the environment, which they hold responsible for
man’s faults, and able to correct both personal and social ills.
Liberals tend to see the emotions, as at least the equal to
reason, and tend not to separate the two. Some consider feelings
as superior to cold reason, and believe that if man is naturally
inclined toward good, to go with those feelings is to go in the
right direction. The implications of the basic liberal view of the
nature of man will produce different approaches to man’s
problems and the problems of his institutions.
MORALITY
Conservatives tend to believe in God, free will, absolutes,
prudence and self-discipline. Faith in God is the touchstone of
the conservative position. God is the perfect being from whom
absolutes flow and who has endowed man with free will to either
accept or reject those absolutes. Since the conservative recog
nizes the power of the emotions, prudent behavior is the balance
among the extremes to which our emotions carry us. Self-
discipline, in a way, is the demonstration of the primacy of
reason over the emotions, and therefore is high on the conserva
tives list of virtues.
The liberal tends to believe in man. This is not to say that the
liberal is an atheist, but in general, liberals prefer to attend to the
perfection of man, rather than to dwell on the perfection of God.