The Meaning of Conservatism

Scruton argues that conservatism is not primarily about free markets, limited government, or hostility to the state. Instead, it is a philosophy grounded in the authority of established institutions, the value of tradition, and the sense of belonging to a continuing social order. He explicitly rejects the idea that individual liberty is an absolute value, arguing it stands subject to the higher value of established government. The book also rejects the ethic of social justice and equality of station as incompatible with the conservative understanding of society.

Scruton explicitly argues that conservatism has only a tenuous relationship to the market economy, monetarism, and free enterprise. For Scruton, the conservative's primary loyalty is to a particular country, a particular form of life, and the shared values that bind a community together—not to economic efficiency or individual liberty as ends in themselves. This placed him at odds with the Thatcherite emphasis on market freedom, and the book is often described as articulating a 'paleo-conservative' position that prioritizes cultural continuity over economic liberalism.

Scruton's distinctive move was to define conservatism not as a doctrine about government size but as an account of political authority rooted in pre-existing social bonds. He argues that the individual is the conclusion of politics, not its premise—we are formed by institutions, traditions, and loyalties before we ever consent to them. This framework positions conservatism as fundamentally opposed to social justice and equality of station, and defines the conservative's task as preserving the continuity of a particular social order rather than pursuing abstract ideals.

The Meaning of Conservatism remains a reference point for traditionalist conservatism, but its relationship to mainstream conservative politics has remained contentious. Scruton himself substantially rewrote the book for later editions, and in works like How to Be a Conservative (2014) he developed themes such as oikophilia—the love of home—that extend the argument. Critics from the left, including Andrew Belsey, dismissed it as 'too ghastly to be taken seriously,' while sympathetic reviewers like Jonathan Sumption praised its Hobbesian rigor. The book's hostility to social justice continues to generate debate.

The Meaning of Conservatism was Scruton's first major statement of political philosophy and set the direction for much of his later writing. Themes introduced here—the primacy of authority, the importance of tradition, the critique of abstract rights—were developed in A Political Philosophy (2006) and Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition (2017). His later work added the concept of oikophilia, or love of home, as a foundation for environmental conservatism. Scruton himself treated the 1980 text as provisional, substantially rewriting it for the 2002 St. Augustine's Press edition.