Edmund Burke

Introduction

Edmund Burke is often considered to be the father of modern conservatism. Burke was a major statesman in 18th century England, but is often remembered by conservatives as the author of Reflections on the Revolution in France^[1], a work which sets out the case for constitutional stability and is foundational to modern conservatism.

Early Life

Burke was born in Dublin in 1729, the son of a Protestant solicitor.^[2] After studying at Trinity College Dublin, Burke entered the Middle Temple. However, he found this disagreeable and, following travels in continental Europe, dedicated himself to writing. His first notable work, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful^[3], concerned aesthetics and is studied to this day.  

Burke soon became active in politics. After being private secretary to the Marquess of Rockingham, the Whig prime minister, Burke entered parliament in 1765 as a Rockingham Whig. Initially elected as the Member for Wendover, Burke became Member for Bristol in 1774; his Speech to the Electors of Bristol at the Conclusion of the Poll^[4] remains the definitive statement of the duties of British legislators to the nation.

Political Philosophy

Philosophical Beginnings

Though Burke would become associated with conservatism, he was initially renowned for his progressive politics and writing. Sympathetic to the demands of the American Thirteen Colonies, Burke called for peace and developed arguments against the use of force. Later, Burke was instrumental in the impeachment of Warren Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal. For Burke, the East India Company had exploited India, undermining the historic benevolence of Indian rulers. Such emphasis on continuity and the dangers of deviations from precedent foreshadowed later themes in his work. 

As he got older, Burke became more suspicious of change. Notably, the French Revolution disturbed him. Though many progressive Englishmen welcomed the revolution, Burke was concerned by revolutionary disorder, his reservations growing as the revolution became more radical.

Change and Revolution

In his magnum opus, Reflections on the Revolution in France^[5], Burke critiques the revolution and makes a case for constitutional stability. Written as a letter to a French aristocrat, Reflections starts with a condemnation of the preaching of Richard Price, a radical clergyman who supported the revolution.  

Thereafter, Burke argues for institutional continuity and incremental change. That is… As a principle, Burke emphasized the importance of conserving the best parts of established institutions. History had tested extant institutions, entailing the endurance of the worthiest parts. Much of Reflections commends the English crown, peerage and House of Commons, such institutions rooting English governance in precedent.

But change did not preclude improvement for Burke. If this were performed incrementally, ‘securing what it acquires’, institutions might be developed. For Burke, ‘a state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.’

Radical change was unlikely to alter underlying equilibriums, abating in the longer term. For Burke, this reflected the complexity of human institutions, “the nature of man is intricate; the objects of society are of the greatest possible complexity; and, therefore, no simple disposition or direction of power can be suitable either to man’s nature or to the quality of his affairs.” Given this complexity, deviations from established paths were likely to backfire. As the English case demonstrated, change had to be gradual and consistent with existing institutional trajectories.

The French revolution showed the dangers of radical change. Pre-revolutionary France had enjoyed a good constitution which had potential for further improvement. But at key points, ill-conceived decisions were consequential, “the fresh ruins of France, which shock our feelings wherever we can turn our eyes, are not the devastation of civil war; they are the sad but instructive monuments of rash and ignorant counsel in time of profound peace.”

Burke also criticized the education and experience of members of the revolutionary National Assembly. According to Burke, “if an assembly is viciously or feebly composed in a very great part of it, nothing…will prevent the men of talent disseminated through it from becoming only the expert instruments of absurd projects!” This entailed negative feedback; the mistakes of leaders and followers would reinforce each other, entailing poor governance and instability. Famously, Burke predicted the emergence of Napoleon (‘a popular general [will become]… master of your whole republic’), foreseeing that disorder would yield to dictatorship.

The Importance of Religion

Much of Reflections asserts the importance of religion. Suspicious of the rise of atheism, Burke regarded the established church as central to the compact between rulers and ruled, anchoring society in tradition and virtue. Such emphasis on the mystical, central to the conservative tradition, was accompanied by a wider distrust of reason, “what is the use of discussing a man’s abstract right to food or to medicine? The question is upon the method of procuring and administering them. In this deliberation I shall always advise to call in the aid of the farmer and the physician, rather than the professor of metaphysics.”

Equally, divine sanction made society more than a commercial transaction, “[society] is to be looked on with other reverence; because it is not a partnership in things subservient only to the gross animal existence of a temporary and perishable nature… As the ends of such a partnership cannot be obtained in many generations, 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.”

Conservative Responses to Burke

Reflections made Burke enemies. Many Whigs supported the revolution and Burke requested a secret burial, fearing desecration of his grave should revolution sweep England. Initially, few Tories favoured Burke, reflecting his long career as a Whig and someone with Catholic sympathies. But in the 19th century, Burke became popular among English conservatives, soon becoming a perennial conservative thinker.^[6]

Burke deserves this status. Crucially, Burke shows why established institutions are worth preserving, providing justification for the key claim of conservatism. Recent academic developments have been kind to Burke. Using advanced statistical methods, cultural evolution theory demonstrates how institutions complement the environments in which they arose, consistent with the arguments of Burke.^[7] Ironically, the reverence of radical left-wingers for indigenous cultures evokes Burke.  

Yet Burke will always be an ambiguous figure. Just as Burke favoured certain progressive causes in his lifetime, there are potential conflicts between Burkeanism and the modern conservative movement. For example, recent conservatives have tended to favour neoliberal economic policies. Arguably, for Burke, the ‘creative destruction’ of such measures erodes civic institutions, undermining the foundations of ordered societies.  

We will never know what Burke would have made of these disputes, but his writings will continue to underpin conservative positions across topics.