A preference for the familiar over the untried, grounded in attachment to what exists rather than in any theory of what should.
Oakeshott's 1956 essay distinguishes this from any doctrine about what society should be. It is a temperament, and he was explicit that it does not entail a political programme.
In practice
- A doctor is sceptical about a change to prescribing guidelines and untroubled by a change to the appointments system.
- The disposition is about attachment to what is familiar, not about a programme: the same person may want radical change in a domain they do not inhabit.