The task of the political philosopher can only be to influence public opinion, not to organize people for action. He will do so effectively only if he is not concerned with what is now politically possible but consistently defends the "general principles which are always the same." In this sense I doubt whether there can be such a thing as a conservative political philosophy. Conservatism may often be a useful practical maxim, but it does not give us any guiding principles which can influence long-range developments.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The task of the political philosopher can only be to influence public opinion, not to organize people for action. He will do so effectively only if he is not concerned with what is now politically possible but consistently defends the "general principles which are always the same." In this sense I doubt whether there can be such a thing as a conservative political philosophy. Conservatism may often be a useful practical maxim, but it does not give us any guiding principles which can influence long-range developments." in the context of "Friedrich Hayek, Why I Am Not a Conservative; "general principles which are always the same" is a quote of Adam Smith in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776)." to mean that wisdom is timeless.