Edmund Burke: quotes, aphorisms, biography, basic ideas, political views, main works, photos, philosophy

Edmund Burke (1729-1797 gg.) - a prominent British parliamentary, political and public figure, writer, publicist, philosopher, the founder of the conservative trend. His work and creativity fall to the 18th century, he became a contemporary of the French Revolution, as well as a participant in the parliamentary struggle. His ideas and thoughts exerted a noticeable influence on social and political thought, and his works each time provoked a lively polemic in society.

Some facts from life

Edmund Burke, whose biography is the subject of this review, was born in Ireland in 1729. His father was a Protestant, his mother a Catholic. He graduated from Trinity College in Dublin, and then, having decided to pursue jurisprudence, went to London. However, he was interested in the writer's career. Edmund Burke became the editor of the magazine "Annual Register", determining his direction and content throughout almost his entire life. Then he began his political career, becoming secretary of the prime minister (in 1765), and later a member of parliament. At the same time (1756) he wrote several works of thought, which brought him some popularity and allowed him to make acquaintances in literary circles. Edmund Burke, whose main works are devoted to political and philosophical issues, became famous largely thanks to his parliamentary speeches, as well as pamphlets, which were always the subject of lively discussions and disputes.

Political Views

His parliamentary career began with the fact that he became secretary of the head of government, who belonged to the Whig party. Soon he took the leading place in the faction, which determined his political views. Edmund Burke, the founder of conservatism, nevertheless on some points adhered to liberal views. So, he was a supporter of reforms and believed that the power of the king should be based on the sovereignty of the people. He opposed absolute monarchy, believing that for a full-fledged political life in the country there should be parties with the opportunity to express their opinion directly and clearly.

Basic Provisions

But on other issues Edmund Burke, whose main ideas are conservative, took different positions. So, being, in principle, a supporter of reforms, he still believed that these changes should be gradual and very cautious so as not to disrupt the existing balance of power and not to damage the formed system for centuries. He opposed sharp and decisive reforms, believing that such actions would lead to chaos and anarchy.

About us

Edmund Burke, whose political views with some reservations can be called conservative, opposed the actions of the British government towards the North American colonies. He called for giving them economic freedom and weakening tax oppression, spoke about the need to cancel stamp duty. He also criticized the activities of the East India Company in India and obtained a high-profile trial of the governor of the country, W. Hastings (1785). The process was quite loud and exposed many abuses of the British government system in this country. Edmund Burke, whose conservatism particularly manifested itself in the dispute with Hastings, argued that in Western European norms and laws, and his opponent, on the contrary, argued that in the eastern countries they are unacceptable.

French revolution

It began in 1789 and shocked all European countries not only with a socio-political coup, but also with their ideas. Against the latter, Edmund Burke sharply acted, asserting that the views and theories of revolutionaries are speculative, abstract, do not have a real historical ground and therefore will never take root in society, since they have neither roots nor history. He contrasted real rights with natural ones. The latter, in his opinion, are only a theory, whereas in reality there are only those that are worked out by the very course of historical development of previous generations.

About society and the state

Edmund Burke, whose ideas belong to the conservative direction, denied, did not accept and criticized the theory of the social contract J.-J. Rousseau, whose essence is that the people themselves voluntarily renounce part of their freedoms and transfer to the state responsibilities for the management and protection of security. In Burke's opinion, all political, social, and economic institutions are based on life practice, on what has been worked out over the centuries and tested by time. Therefore, it makes no sense, he said, to try to change the existing order, it can only be carefully improved without any fundamental changes. Otherwise, there will be chaos and anarchy, which happened in revolutionary France.

What he said about freedom

The author believed that social inequality and social hierarchy existed always, therefore he considered the projects of revolutionaries on building a just society on the basis of universal equality by a utopia. Edmund Burke, whose aphorisms in a concise form express the essence of his philosophy, argued that it is impossible to achieve a common equality and universal independence.

To him belongs the following statement on this score: "In order to enjoy freedom, it must be limited." He regarded the views of the revolutionaries as speculative constructions and pointed to the riots that occurred in France after the coup. In many ways, thanks to his pamphlet speeches against this revolution, the Tory government, headed by W. Pitt Jr., decided to start a war against the state. Edmund Burke, whose quotes speak of his conservative positions, argued that a person can never be completely independent of society, he is somehow attached to it. He said this as follows: "Abstract freedom, like other abstractions, does not exist."

Thoughts on aesthetics

At the very beginning of his literary work (1757) he wrote a work entitled "Philosophical study of the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful." In it, the scientist expressed a new idea for his time that the individual's understanding of the aesthetic ideal does not depend on the perceptions of works of art, but on the inner world and spiritual needs. This work brought him fame and took an important place in a number of works on aesthetics. This work is translated into Russian, which indicates his fame.

Worldview

Edmund Burke, whose philosophy was also largely determined by the ideas of conservatism, expressed a number of interesting ideas about history and social order. For example, he believed that when carrying out reforms, it is necessary to take into account the concrete experience accumulated by previous generations. He called for concrete examples, not abstract theories. In his view, this was the best way to transform the social order. On this occasion, he says: "An alien example is the only school of humanity, a person never went to another school and will not walk."

Tradition of views

Edmund Burke considered the main value of the tradition, which called for keeping and respecting, because they are worked out by life itself and are based on real needs and needs of people, and do not proceed from speculative constructions. There is nothing worse, in his opinion, than to disrupt this natural course of development, which is set by history and life itself. From these positions, he criticized the French events of his time in the well-known work Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). He saw the fatalities of the revolution in the fact that she destroyed the colossal spiritual experience accumulated by previous generations. Attempts to build a new society he considered useless for civilization, since they bear only chaos and destruction.

Value

In the writings and speeches of Burke for the first time the final ideological design of conservative ideas. Therefore, he is considered to be the founder of classical conservatism. His philosophical views occupy a prominent place in the history of the development of socio-political thought, and vivid political statements for the freedom of the North American colonies, against the abuses of British power in India, for the freedom of the Catholic faith in Ireland made him one of the prominent representatives of his time. His views, however, can not be called unequivocally conservative, as he often adhered to liberal ideas.