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Edmund Burke is often regarded as the father of modern conservatism. Does this mean he is adverse to change or not? How does he understand the...

Burke has many differing ideas in his political philosophy, some that mark him as quite modern in his thinking (he died in 1792), though on the whole he was a defender of tradition.


For example, Burke supported the American Revolution, a view that brought him opprobrium among many in English society, especially monarchists and others who would be labeled conservative. Burke put forth the notion that Americans had a right to levy their own taxes and to be represented by their...

Burke has many differing ideas in his political philosophy, some that mark him as quite modern in his thinking (he died in 1792), though on the whole he was a defender of tradition.


For example, Burke supported the American Revolution, a view that brought him opprobrium among many in English society, especially monarchists and others who would be labeled conservative. Burke put forth the notion that Americans had a right to levy their own taxes and to be represented by their own officials, while arguing that peace was preferable with America, if only to keep intact the benefits of trade.


On the other hand, Burke viewed the economic, social and religious structures of England as worthy of due reverence, and inveighed against the sort of "abstract" political theories that came over from America, France and elsewhere. Burke railed against atheistic notions that threatened religious traditions and feared democracy, asserting that the upper classes were necessary to protect the rights of minorities. He said the following, a distillation of his political reasoning:



"We fear God, we look up with awe to kings; with affection to parliaments; with duty to magistrates; with reverence to priests; and with respect to nobility. Why? Because when such ideas are brought before our minds, it is natural to be so affected".



Burke's suspicion of democracy and revolution was founded in his belief that the masses of citizens were insufficiently educated to makes decisions that would affect the whole of a nation. He scoffed at the notion that Englishmen should view themselves as "citizens of the world," a favored notion among progressive intellectuals of his day; Burke desired the English to take great pride in English traditions and history, and to view the efforts of those in the past as being gifts handed down to be built upon or preserved, not obliterated and replaced with new forms of government or class structure.


For these reasons, Burke is often embraced by conservatives around the world who fear both the "excesses" of democracy and the urge to utterly replace existing social structures.

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