Western Philosophy 18th century philosophy
Rt. The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century Hon. Edmund Burke
Name	Edmund Burke
Birth	January 12, 1729 (Dublin, Ireland)
Death	July 9, 1797 (aged 68) (Beaconsfield, England)
School/tradition	Old Whig, Liberal conservatism
Main interests	Social and political philosophy
Influenced by	Aristotle, Cicero, Richard Hooker, Edward Coke, Montesquieu, William Blackstone
Influenced	Lord Acton, Friedrich Hayek, Karl Popper, Roger Scruton, Joseph de Maistre, Hannah Arendt

Edmund Burke (12 January 1729^[1] – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople Year 1729 ( MDCCXXIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Events 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1797 ( MDCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to Liberal conservatism is a variant of Conservatism which combines conservative and liberal values and positions Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Marcus Tullius Cicero ( Classical Latin ˈkikeroː usually ˈsɪsərəʊ in English January 3, 106 BC &ndash December 7, 43 BC was a Roman Richard Hooker (March 1554 – 3 November 1600) was an Anglican priest and an influential theologian. Sir Edward Coke (pronounced "Cook" ( 1 February 1552 &ndash 3 September 1634) was an early English colonial Entrepreneur Charles-Louis de Secondat baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (Eng Sir William Blackstone (originally pronounced Blexstun ( 10 July 1723 &ndash 14 February 1780) was an English Jurist and John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton 1st Baron Acton, KCVO ( 10 January 1834 &ndash 19 June 1902) Friedrich August von Hayek CH ( May 8, 1899 March 23, 1992) was an Austrian British Economist Sir Karl Raimund Popper ( July 28 1902  &ndash September 17 1994) was an Austrian and British Philosopher and a professor Roger Vernon Scruton (born 27 February 1944) is an English Conservative Philosopher. Joseph-Marie Comte de Maistre (1 April 1753- 26 February 1821 was a French-speaking Savoyard lawyer diplomat writer and philosopher Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople Year 1729 ( MDCCXXIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1797 ( MDCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common " Anglo-Irish " was a term used historically to describe a privileged Social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the This is a list of political philosophers, including some who may be better known for their work in other areas of philosophy Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to He is mainly remembered for his support of the American colonies in the dispute with King George III and Great Britain that led to the American Revolution and for his strong opposition to the French Revolution. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the George III (George William Frederick 4 June 1738 George III's long reign was marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdom much of the rest of Europe and places In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an The latter made Burke one of the leading figures within the conservative faction of the Whig party (which he dubbed the "Old Whigs"), in opposition to the pro-French-Revolution "New Whigs", led by Charles James Fox. Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to The Right Honourable Charles James Fox ( 24 January 1749 &ndash 13 September 1806) was a prominent British Whig Burke also published a philosophical work where he attempted to define emotions and passions, and how they are triggered in a person. Burke worked on aesthetics and founded the Annual Register, a political review. Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called The Annual Register (originally subtitled "A View of the History Politicks and Literature of the Year. He is often regarded by conservatives as the philosophical founder of Anglo-American conservatism. ^[2]

Life

Burke, who was of Munster Roman Catholic lineage, was born in Dublin to a prosperous, professional solicitor father (Richard; d. Munster ( Irish: An Mhumhain, ənˈvuːnʲ Cúige Mumhan or Mumha) is the southernmost of the four Provinces of Ireland. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. A "solicitor" is a term used in many Common law jurisdictions for a lawyer who offers legal services outside of the courts 1761) who had converted to the Church of Ireland. The Church of Ireland (Eaglais na hÉireann is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland. His mother Mary (c. 1702–1770), whose maiden name was Nagle, belonged to the Roman Catholic Church and came from an impoverished but genteel County Cork family. County Cork (Contae Chorcaí is the most southerly and the largest of the modern counties of Ireland. Burke was raised in his father's faith and would remain throughout his life a practising Anglican, but his political enemies would later repeatedly accuse him of harbouring secret Catholic sympathies at a time when membership in the Catholic church would have disqualified him from public office (see Penal Laws in Ireland). Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs The Penal Laws in Ireland (Na Péindlíthe refers to a series of laws imposed under British rule that sought to discriminate against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters in favour His sister Juliana was brought up as and remained a Roman Catholic.

As a child he sometimes spent time away from the unhealthy air of Dublin with his mother's family in the Blackwater Valley. He received his early education at a Quaker school in Ballitore, some 30 miles (48 km) from Dublin, and in 1744 he proceeded to Trinity College, Dublin. Ballitore ( is a Village in County Kildare, Ireland, sometimes spelt "Ballytore" Trinity College Dublin ( TCD; Irish Coláiste na Tríonóide Baile Átha Cliath; Latin: Collegium Sacrosanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae In 1747, he set up a Debating Club, known as Edmund Burke's Club, which in 1770 merged with the Historical Club to form the College Historical Society, now the oldest undergraduate society in the world. History Foundation The College Historical Society was founded by Edmund Burke in 1770 with James Reid as its first Auditor when Burke's Club (founded The minutes of the meetings of Burke's club remain in the collection of the Historical Society. He graduated in 1748. Burke's father wished him to study for the law, and with this object he went to London in 1750 and entered the Middle Temple, but soon thereafter he gave up his legal studies in order to travel in Continental Europe. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as Barristers After giving up law, he attempted to earn his livelihood through writing.

Burke's first published work, A Vindication of Natural Society: A View of the Miseries and Evils Arising to Mankind, appeared in 1756 and was fraudulently attributed to Lord Bolingbroke. The essay A Vindication of Natural Society A View of the Miseries and Evils Arising to Mankind, outlining radical political theory was first published as a work of Lord Henry St John 1st Viscount Bolingbroke ( 16 September 1678 &ndash 12 December 1751) was an English politician and philosopher It was originally taken as a serious treatise on anarchism. Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i Years later, with a government appointment at stake, Burke, as a defender of the established order, claimed that it had been intended as a satire. Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and Performing arts In satire human Many modern scholars consider it to be satire, but others take Vindication as a serious defence of anarchism (an interpretation notably espoused by Murray Rothbard). Murray Newton Rothbard (March 2 1926 – January 7 1995 was an American economist of the Austrian School who helped define modern Libertarianism Whether satire or not, it was the first anarchist essay, and taken seriously by later anarchists such as William Godwin. William Godwin ( 3 March 1756 &ndash 7 April 1836) was an English journalist political philosopher and Novelist In 1757 Burke published a treatise on aesthetics, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, which attracted the attention of prominent Continental thinkers such as Denis Diderot and Immanuel Kant. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful is a 1757 treatise on Aesthetics, written by Edmund Burke. Denis Diderot ( October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784) was a French Philosopher and writer Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg The following year, with Robert Dodsley, he created the influential Annual Register, a publication in which various authors evaluated the international political events of the previous year. Robert Dodsley ( 1703 - September 23, 1764) was an English Bookseller and miscellaneous writer

A literary party at Sir Joshua Reynolds - 1781. The painting shows the friends of Reynolds - many of whom were members of "The Club" - use cursor to identify.

In London, Burke became closely connected with many of the leading intellectuals and artists, including Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, Oliver Goldsmith, and Joshua Reynolds. Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September David Garrick (born 19 February 1717 in Hereford &ndash 20 January 1779) was an English Actor, Playwright, Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1730 or 1728 &ndash 4 April 1774 was an Anglo-Irish writer poet and Physician known for his Novel The Vicar Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA (16 July 1723 &ndash 23 February 1792 was the most important and influential of 18th century English painters Edward Gibbon described him as, 'the most eloquent and rational madman that I ever knew. Edward Gibbon ( April 27, 1737 January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. ' ^[3]

On March 12, 1757 he married Jane Mary Nugent (1734–1812), daughter of a Catholic physician who had treated him at Bath. Events 538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving Year 1757 ( MDCCLVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol. His son Richard was born in February 9, 1758. Richard Burke ( February 9, 1758 – August 2, 1794) was a Barrister and Member of Parliament in England Events 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Year 1758 ( MDCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Another son, Christopher, died in infancy.

At about this same time, Burke was introduced to William Gerard Hamilton (known as "Single-speech Hamilton"). William Gerard Hamilton ( January 28, 1729 &ndash July 16, 1796) English Statesman, popularly known as "Single Speech When Hamilton was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, Burke accompanied him to Dublin as his private secretary, a position he maintained for three years. The office before 1800 The dominant position of the Lord Lieutenant in the Irish governmental system had been central to the British administration for much of the history of In 1765 Burke became private secretary to liberal Whig statesman Charles Watson-Wentworth, the Marquess of Rockingham, at the time Prime Minister of Great Britain, who remained Burke's close friend and associate until his premature death in 1782. Charles Watson-Wentworth 2nd Marquess of Rockingham KG, PC (13 May 1730 &ndash 1 July 1782 styled The Hon The title Marquess of Rockingham in the peerage of Great Britain was created for Thomas Watson-Wentworth 6th Baron Rockingham in 1746

Political career

Statue of Edmund Burke in Bristol. The inscription reads: Burke 1774-1780. "I wish to be a member of parliament to have my share of doing good and resisting evil". Speech at Bristol 1780.

In 1765 Burke entered the British Parliament as a member of the House of Commons for Wendover, a pocket borough in the control of Lord Fermanagh, later 2nd Earl Verney, a close political ally of Rockingham. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories Wendover was a Borough constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 The term "rotten" or "decayed" borough referred to a parliamentary borough or Constituency in Great Britain and Ireland Earl Verney, in the Province of Leinster was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. Burke took a leading role in the debate over the constitutional limits to the executive authority of the King. He argued strongly against unrestrained royal power and for the role of political parties in maintaining a principled opposition capable of preventing abuses by the monarch or by specific factions within the government. A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral His most important publication in this regard was his Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents of 1770. [1] In it, Burke expressed his opposition to the influence of the court and he was also an advocate for the people's interests.

Burke expressed his support for the grievances of the American colonies under the government of King George III and his appointed representatives. Burke opposed the attitude of severe sovereignty in relation to the colonists. Instead, he advocated doing whatever was advantageous instead of what is legally just and right. He also campaigned against the persecution of Catholics in Ireland and denounced the abuses and corruption of the East India Company. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world The Honourable East India Company ( HEIC) referred to most commonly as the East India Company, also historically and colloquially as John Company, or

In 1769 Burke published, in reply to George Grenville, his pamphlet on The Present State of the Nation. George Grenville (14 October 1712 &ndash 13 November 1770 was a British Whig statesman who served in government In the same year he purchased the small estate of Gregories near Beaconsfield. The 600-acre (2. 4 km²) estate was purchased with mostly borrowed money, and though it contained an art collection that included works by Titian, Gregories nevertheless would prove to be a heavy financial burden on the MP in the following decades. Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c 1485 &ndash August 27 1576 better known as Titian, was the leading painter of the 16th-century Venetian Burke was never able to fully pay for the estate. His speeches and writings had now made him famous, and among other effects had brought about the suggestion that he was the author of the Letters of Junius. Junius was the pseudonym of a writer who contributed a series of letters to the Public Advertiser, from January 21 1769 to January In 1774 he was elected member for Bristol, at the time "England's second city" and a large constituency with a genuine electoral contest. Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London His address to the electors of Bristol was noted for its defence of the principles of representative democracy against the notion that elected officials should act narrowly as advocates for the interests of their constituents. Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principles of the people's representatives Burke's arguments in this matter helped to formulate the delegate and trustee models of political representation. The delegate model of representation is a model of a Representative democracy. The trustee model of representation is a model of a Representative democracy. His support for free trade with Ireland and his advocacy of Catholic emancipation were unpopular with his constituents and caused him to lose his seat in 1780. Free trade is a system in which the trade of goods and services between or within countries flows unhindered by government-imposed restrictions For the remainder of his parliamentary career, Burke sat for Malton, another pocket borough controlled by Rockingham. Malton, also called New Malton, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England in 1295 and 1298 and again from

Under the Tory administration of Lord North (1770-1782) the American war went on from bad to worse, and it was in part owing to the oratorical efforts of Burke that it was brought to an end. In the political tradition of some English-speaking countries, the term Tory has referred to a variety of political parties and Creeds since it was Frederick North 2nd Earl of Guilford, KG, PC (13 April 1732 &ndash 5 August 1792 more often known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from To this period belong two of his most famous performances, his speech on Conciliation with America (1775), and his Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol (1777). The fall of North led to Rockingham being recalled to power. Burke became Paymaster of the Forces and Privy Councillor, but Rockingham's unexpected death in July of 1782 put an end to his administration after only a few months. The Paymaster of the Forces was a British government position A privy council is a body that advises the Head of state of a nation on how to exercise their executive authority, typically but not always in the context of a

Burke then supported fellow Whig Charles James Fox in his coalition against Lord North, a decision that many came to regard later as his greatest political error. The Right Honourable Charles James Fox ( 24 January 1749 &ndash 13 September 1806) was a prominent British Whig Under that short-lived coalition he continued to hold the office of Paymaster and he distinguished himself in connection with Fox's India Bill. The coalition fell in 1783, and was succeeded by the long Tory administration of William Pitt the Younger, which lasted until 1801. William Pitt the Younger (28 May 1759 &ndash 23 January 1806 was a British politician of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Burke was accordingly in opposition for the remainder of his political life. In 1785 he made his great speech on The Nabob of Arcot's Debts, and in the next year (1786) he moved for papers in regard to the Indian government of Warren Hastings, the consequence of which was the impeachment trial of that politician. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Warren Hastings ( December 6 1732 - August 22 1818) was the first Governor-General of Bengal, from 1773 to 1785 Impeachment is the first of two stages in a specific process for a legislative body to forcibly remove a Government official The trial, of which Burke was the leading promoter, lasted from 1788 until Hastings's eventual acquittal in 1795. Burke's indictment, fuelled by emotional indignation, called Hastings the 'captain-general of iniquity'; who never dined without 'creating a famine'; his heart was 'gangrened to the core' and he resembled both a 'spider of Hell' and a 'ravenous vulture devouring the carcases of the dead' ^[4]. The indictment was such a philippic that, whereas it had previously seemed that Hastings would be found guilty, it actually provoked public sympathy; however, although Hastings was acquitted, the trial served to establish the principle that the Empire was a moral undertaking rather than a wholesale looting by either the East India Company or its servants. A philippic is a fiery damning speech or Tirade, delivered to condemn a particular political actor The Honourable East India Company ( HEIC) referred to most commonly as the East India Company, also historically and colloquially as John Company, or

Response to the turmoil in France

Although Burke had supported the American War for Independence, which he saw as an appropriate response to the situation regarding the American colonists, he foresaw the French Revolution in his Reflections on the Revolution in France in November 1790, and took a stand against them. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790 by Edmund Burke, is one of the best-known intellectual attacks against the (then-infant French Revolution ^[5] With it, Burke became one of the earliest and fiercest critics in Britain of the French Revolution. He saw it, not as movement towards a representative, constitutional democracy, but rather as a violent rebellion against tradition and proper authority and as an experiment disconnected from the complex realities of human society. Burke argued that the new doctrines of France were simple and abstract, that since they did not recognize the nature and orders of people, it could never replace the present ones. As such, he predicted, it would end in disaster. Burke vehemently disagreed with Rousseau's theory of the "Popular Will" believing that most men in a nation are not qualified to govern it and should look to men of finer upbringing and higher Christian education (the law of natural Aristocracy or the Landed Gentry) who are by their position, naturally responsible to them and the nation as a whole. He professed that a civilized people could not naturally be made up of people with the same distinctions, positions and interests. An attempt by the multitude of a country to govern each other's affairs would inevitably move the country away from personal merit and distinction towards an unprincipled, enervating mediocrity. Moreover, he asserted that the French doctrines fundamentally worked against the interests of the people and endangered their most prized and cherished treasures themselves.

Former admirers of Burke, such as Thomas Jefferson, Sheridan, and fellow Whig politician Charles James Fox, proceeded to denounce Burke as a reactionary and an enemy of the French and their ground-breaking aspirations. Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence Richard Brinsley Sheridan (30 October 1751 &ndash 7 July 1816 was an Irish playwright and Whig Statesman. The Right Honourable Charles James Fox ( 24 January 1749 &ndash 13 September 1806) was a prominent British Whig Reactionary (also reactionist) is a derogatory term usually used by the Left wing in regards to movements which oppose radical change in society and seeks a return Thomas Paine penned The Rights of Man in 1791 as a response to Burke. Thomas Paine (January 29 1737 &ndash June 8 1809 was an English Pamphleteer, Revolutionary, radical, Inventor, and Intellectual Rights of Man (1787 by Thomas Paine, posits that popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard its people their natural rights However, other former supporters of the American revolution such as John Adams, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton agreed with Burke's assessment of the French situation. John Adams (October 30 1735 July 4 1826 was one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States. George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the

These events, and the disagreements which arose regarding them within the Whig party, led to its breakup and to the rupture of Burke's friendship with Fox. In 1791 Burke published his Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs, in which he renewed his criticism of the radical revolutionary programmes inspired by the French Revolution and attacked the Whigs who supported them. Eventually most of the Whigs sided with Burke and voted their support for the conservative government of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, which declared war on the revolutionary government of France in 1793. This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. William Pitt the Younger (28 May 1759 &ndash 23 January 1806 was a British politician of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

In 1794 a terrible blow fell upon Burke in the loss of his son Richard, to whom he was tenderly attached, and in whom he saw signs of promise. In the same year the Hastings trial came to an end. Burke felt that his work was done and indeed that he was worn out; he soon took leave of Parliament. The King, whose favour he had gained by his attitude on the French Revolution, wished to make him Lord Beaconsfield, but the death of his son had deprived such an honour of all its attractions, and the only reward he would accept was a pension of £2,500. This pension was attacked by the Duke of Bedford and the Earl of Lauderdale, to whom Burke replied in the Letter to a Noble Lord (1796). John Russell 6th Duke of Bedford KG PC LLD FSA ( 6 July 1766 &ndash 20 October 1839) was a younger James Maitland 8th Earl of Lauderdale KT PC ( January 26 1759 - September 10 1839) was a Representative peer His last publications were the Letters on a Regicide Peace (1796), called forth by negotiations for peace with France. He spent his final years in a strong support of the war against France.

After a prolonged illness Burke died in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire on July 9, five days before the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, and the official start of the Revolution he so long predicted and fought against. Buckinghamshire (abbreviated Bucks) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. Events 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. The Storming of the Bastille in Paris occurred on 14 July 1789. 1797 He was buried there, in Beaconsfield alongside his son and brother. Year 1797 ( MDCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common His wife survived him by nearly fifteen years.

Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France was extremely controversial at the time of its publication. Its intemperate language and factual inaccuracies even convinced many readers that Burke had lost his judgement. But after his death, when his predictions were proven correct, it grew to become his best-known and most influential work. In the English-speaking world, Burke is often regarded as one of the fathers of modern conservatism, and his thinking has exerted considerable influence over the political philosophy of such classical liberals as Friedrich Hayek and Karl Popper. Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined Classical liberalism (also known as traditional liberalism, Laissez-faire liberalism, Market liberalism or in much of the world Friedrich August von Hayek CH ( May 8, 1899 March 23, 1992) was an Austrian British Economist Sir Karl Raimund Popper ( July 28 1902  &ndash September 17 1994) was an Austrian and British Philosopher and a professor Burke's 'liberal' conservatism, which claimed to oppose the implementation of governing based on abstract ideas and supported 'organic' reform, can be contrasted with the autocratic conservatism of such Continental figures as Joseph de Maistre. Joseph-Marie Comte de Maistre (1 April 1753- 26 February 1821 was a French-speaking Savoyard lawyer diplomat writer and philosopher

Even though Burke did not invest a great deal of his career in an Economical pursuit he had a strong influence on economic thought of the time. He was a strong supporter of the free market system but was wary of industrialization. He believed that economical study was an extension of progress from the nation's order. He believed trade should be fair, benefitting both parties but the government should not interfere anymore than prudent routine. Burke lays out many of his economic thoughts in his Thoughts and Details on Scarcity. Thoughts and Details on Scarcity Originally Presented to the Right Hon He is not recognized as any sort of leader in economic study because he did not believe it was the role of the government to regulate it. Many maintain the modern sentiment that Burke did not live in the age when Government interference for the public good in its commonwealth was necessary. They feel that Burke lived in a time that was simpler and did not have the complexity or beg for the attention as modern first world economies do. Burke, however, believed that the principles for which he stood were always applicable and would consistently generate prosperity for any country that adhered to them, regardless of time and circumstance. Adam Smith remarked that "Burke is the only man I ever knew who thinks on economic subjects exactly as I do without any previous communication having passed between us". [2] The Liberal historian Lord Acton considered Burke as one of the three greatest liberals, along with William Ewart Gladstone and Thomas Babington Macaulay. John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton 1st Baron Acton, KCVO ( 10 January 1834 &ndash 19 June 1902) [3]

Two contrasting assessments of Burke were offered long after his death by Karl Marx and Winston Churchill. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874

Karl Marx was a radical opponent of Burke's thought. In Das Kapital, he wrote::

According to Winston Churchill's "Consistency in Politics":

The historian Piers Brendon asserts that Burke laid the moral foundations for the British Empire, epitomised in the trial of Warren Hastings, that was ultimately to be its undoing: when Burke stated that, 'The British Empire must be governed on a plan of freedom, for it will be governed by no other' ^[6], this was '[. Piers Brendon (born 21 December[[ 940]] Stratton Cornwall) is a British writer known for historical and biographical works The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. Warren Hastings ( December 6 1732 - August 22 1818) was the first Governor-General of Bengal, from 1773 to 1785 . . ] an idealogical bacillus that would prove fatal. This was Edmund Burke's paternalistic doctrine that colonial government was a trust. It was to be so exercised for the benefit of subject people that they would eventually attain their birthright - freedom. ' ^[7]. As a consequence of this opinion, Burke objected to the opium trade, which he called a 'smuggling adventure' and condemned as 'the great Disgrace of the British character in India. ' ^[8]

Burke is also the namesake of a variety of prominent associations and societies across the world.

Speeches

Burke made several famous speeches while serving in the British House of Commons. The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords

• On American Taxation (1774): "Whether you were right or wrong in establishing the Colonies on the principles of commercial monopoly, rather than on that of revenue, is at this day a problem of mere speculation. "On American Taxation" was a speech given by Edmund Burke in the British House of Commons on April 19, 1774, advocating the full repeal You cannot have both by the same authority. To join together the restraints of an universal internal and external monopoly, with an universal internal and external taxation, is an unnatural union; perfect uncompensated slavery. "

• On Conciliation with America (1775)[4]: "The proposition is peace. Not peace through the medium of war; not peace to be hunted through the labyrinth of intricate and endless negotiations; not peace to arise out of universal discord fomented, from principle, in all parts of the Empire, not peace to depend on the juridical determination of perplexing questions, or the precise marking the shadowy boundaries of a complex government. It is simple peace; sought in its natural course, and in its ordinary haunts. It is peace sought in the spirit of peace, and laid in principles purely pacific. . . "

Also famous is his speech to the Electors of Bristol during the 1774 election, on the duties of a Member of Parliament. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament.

• Speech to the Electors of Bristol (1774)[5]: ". . . it ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinion, high respect; their business, unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But his unbiased opinion, his mature judgement, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure; no, nor from the law and the constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion. . "

Writings

• 1920 (1775). "Conciliation with the Colonies". Allyn and Bacon: The Academy Classics. Norwood Press; J. S. Cushing Co. -- Berwick & Smith Co. , Norwood, Mass. , U. S. A. [Edited by Cornelius Beach Bradley, Professor of Rhetoric, University of California. This 74 page speech was delivered to the House of Commons on March 22, 1775. Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor. Year 1775 ( MDCCLXXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a A random selection of quotations (eleven in all) taken from this speech is presented in the preface and is as relevant today (2007) as it was when published (after the "Great" War) in the present form in 1920. Of the eleven quotations, most striking is the following: "The use of force alone is but temporary. Conciliation failing, force remains; but force failing, no further hope of conciliation is left. "
• 1982 (1756). A Vindication of Natural Society: A View of the Miseries and Evils Arising to Mankind. The essay A Vindication of Natural Society A View of the Miseries and Evils Arising to Mankind, outlining radical political theory was first published as a work of Lord Liberty Fund. ISBN 0-86597-009-2. Also in Burke (1999). This article, outlining radical political theory, was first published anonymously and, when Burke was revealed as its author, he explained that it was a satire. The academic consensus is that Burke's explanation was not disingenuous. Murray Rothbard dissented, arguing that Burke wrote the Vindication in earnest and later disavowed it out of expediency. Murray Newton Rothbard (March 2 1926 – January 7 1995 was an American economist of the Austrian School who helped define modern Libertarianism
• 1998 (1757). A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful is a 1757 treatise on Aesthetics, written by Edmund Burke. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283580-7. Also in Burke (1999). Begun when the author was 19 and published when he was 27.
• 1999a (1790). Reflections on the Revolution in France. Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790 by Edmund Burke, is one of the best-known intellectual attacks against the (then-infant French Revolution Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283978-0. Burke's criticisms of the French Revolution and its connection to Rousseau's philosophy, made before the revolution was radicalised, predicted that it would fall into terror, tyranny, and misrule. Burke, who had supported the American Revolution, wrote the Reflections in response to a young correspondent who mistakenly assumed that he would support the French Revolution as well.
• 1999 (Isaac Kramnick, ed. ) The Portable Edmund Burke. Penguin Books. A 573pp anthology of his essays, speeches, and letters.

Quotations

• "Manners are of more importance than laws. . . Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation like that of the air we breathe in. "^[9]
• "Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go ill together. "^[10]
• "There is a sort of enthusiasm in all projectors, absolutely necessary for their affairs, which makes them proof against the most fatiguing delays, the most mortifying disappointments, the most shocking insults; and, what is severer than all, the presumptuous judgment of the ignorant upon their designs. "^[11]
• The quote "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing" is often attributed to Burke,^[12] but does not appear in his works or recorded speeches. ^[13]
• "But the age of chivalry is gone. – That of sophisters, economists, and calculators, has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished for ever. "^[14]

Summary

Notes

References

• This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature is a collection of biographies of writers by John William Cousin (1849-1910 published in 1910 London, J. M. Dent & sons; New York, E. P. Dutton.
• Conor Cruise O'Brien, 1992. Conor Cruise O'Brien (Conchubhar Crús Ó Briain (also colloquially known as 'The Cruiser' born 3 November 1917 is an Irish politician writer and academic The Great Melody: A Thematic Biography of Edmund Burke. ISBN 0-226-61651-7
• Dickson, David, New Foundations of Ireland 1660-1800 ISBN 0-7165-2637-9.
• Russell Kirk, 1992 (1953). Russell Kirk ( 19 October 1918 &ndash 29 April[[ 994]] was an American Political theorist, Historian, Social The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot, 7th ed. Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26 1888 – January 4 1965 was a poet Dramatist, and Literary critic.
• Lock, Frederick, 1998. Edmund Burke. Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198206763.
• Muller, Jerry Z. , 2002. The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Western Thought. Anchor Books.
• BREWER: THE DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FABLE
• The career and political thought of Edmund Burke by Ian Crowe; Journal of Liberal History, Issue 40, Autumn 2003

See also

• Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
• Charles James Fox
• List of people on stamps of Ireland
• Thomas Paine
• Russell Kirk

External links

• Works by Edmund Burke at Project Gutenberg (including his collected works in 12 volumes)
• Reflections on the Revolution in France
• Edmund Burke entry at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy by Ian Harris
• Spanish foundation based on Burke's thoughts
• Edmund Burke Quotes ISearchQuotations
• Edmund Burke Papers at Gettysburg College