Edmund Burke
A society is an inheritance: reform it with care, do not redesign it on paper.
Life
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was a thinker and member of parliament born in Dublin and active in Britain. He wrote on the beautiful and the sublime, and in his Reflections on the Revolution in France he argued that a society is an inherited trust, to be reformed with caution rather than rebuilt from a plan. He matters for debates on tradition, change and authority.
Main works
Criticises the French Revolution and defends inherited institutions against abstract reform.
Ties the sublime to terror and power, and the beautiful to love and gentleness.
In his own words
« A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation. »
« it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born. »
Positions
click a row to see the evidencePractical wisdom comes from long experience of many generations, not from abstract theory.
Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
He appeals to a moral law above rulers, which binds even governments.
Burke, speeches on the impeachment of Warren Hastings (1788)
Religion and inherited prejudice carry more wisdom than the unaided reason of one generation.
Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
Individual reason is weak and passions are strong; people need the discipline of custom, religion and institutions.
Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
A society is an inheritance from past generations: its customs and institutions carry a wisdom that must be kept and reformed only with care.
Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)