Edmund Burke
Anglo-Irish writer, philosopher, and politician; widely credited as the founder of conservatism.
Edmund Burke was an Anglo-Irish philosopher, statesman, and political theorist of the Age of Enlightenment.[1]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 12 January 1729 (NS)
- Died
- 9 July 1797
- Field
- Writer
- philosopher
- politician
- Nationality
- Anglo-Irish
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Burke was born in Dublin, Ireland on January 12, 1729.[1] His father Richard was a prosperous solicitor who had converted to the Church of Ireland.[1] In 1744 he entered Trinity College Dublin, where he set up a debating club and graduated in 1748.[1] He went to London in 1750 to study law but soon gave it up to earn his livelihood through writing.[1]
In 1757 Burke married Jane Mary Nugent, and they had a son Richard in 1758.[1] He entered the House of Commons in December 1765 as Member for Wendover.[2] He argued strongly for the role of political parties in maintaining principled opposition.[3] In his Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), Burke described the revolution as a violent rebellion against tradition and proper authority.[1]
After his son Richard died in 1794, Burke retired from Parliament.[1] Burke was a key participant in parliamentary discussions about the constitutional restrictions on the monarch's executive powers.[3]
What the cited sources add
The Basics of Philosophy account states that Burke's first work, "A Vindication of Natural Society", was perhaps the first serious defense of anarchism.[1] Sobran adds that Burke later believed the state could be tamed and civilized by "the spirit of a gentleman, and the spirit of religion."[4]
References
- "Edmund Burke", The Basics of Philosophy. facts only, no text reused. philosophybasics.com
- Wikipedia, "Edmund Burke" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McCue, p. 16. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Edmund Burke" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Burke: Select Works of Edmund Burke, Vol. 1, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents"; Lock, Burke. Vol. I, p. 277. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Sobran, Joseph, Anarchism, Reason, and History : "Oddly enough, the great conservative Edmund Burke began his career with an anarchist tract, arguing that the s. facts only, no text reused. sobran.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Edmund Burke (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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