Edmund Burke (1729-97), a Whig politician and thinker, is one of the most important contributors to the intellectual development of modern conservatism. Anglo-Irish, and born in Dublin, Burke initially trained as a lawyer but soon gave this up to pursue a literary career and became the founding editor of the National Review. In 1765, he was appointed private secretary to Lord Rockingham, the Whig prime minister, and for most of the period 1766-94he served as a Whig MP. Although Burke is rightly regarded as a major conservative thinker, in the later decades of the 18th century he supported a number of progressive causes, such as the abolition of capital punishment, Catholic emancipation and opposition to absentee landlordism in Ireland. He was also a critic of British government policy regarding America, acting as an agent in parliament for the colony of New York, arguing that taxation of the colonies was unjust and calling for moderation and reconciliation. Burke endorsed Adam Smith’s economic arguments for free trade too. Having said this, his powerful critique of the French Revolution, which was developed in his most famous book Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), has ensured that Burke’s reputation and legacy rests primarily on his conservative philosophy rather than his ‘liberal’ outlook. His other notable works include A Vindication of Natural Society (1756), Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770) and An Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs (1791), Thoughts on French Affairs (1791) and Letters on a Regicide Peace (1796-97).

Burke’s key ideas

As one of the ‘founding fathers’ of modern conservatism, Burke is associated with two key ideas, namely (1) political change should be undertaken with great caution and in an organic manner, and (2) tradition and empiricism should be valued, based on respect for practices passed down for generations.

1. Political change should be undertaken with great caution and in an organic manner

Burke objected to the French Revolution on the grounds that it was attempting to create a new social and political order based on utopian ideals and ‘philosophical abstractions’ (such as equality, fraternity and liberty) rather than rely on tradition and the accumulated wisdom of the past. For this reason, he opposed the Jacobins, the radical French revolutionaries, who, influenced by Enlightenment ideas, rejected the divine right of kings and wished to establish a new society founded on abstract human rights (the ‘rights of man’). Burke’s argument rested, in part, on his belief that human nature was imperfect – he famously stated that ‘The march of the human mind is slow.’ Therefore, in his view, the rationalism of the Enlightenment thinkers which valued abstract principles and ideals above tradition and empiricism was fundamentally flawed because, in reality, humans were not governed by reason. He contended that, because abstract principles, such as liberty and equality, were not firmly embedded in French society and culture, the radical changes inspired by them would lead only to social destabilization in the form of violence, disorder and oppression. It is interesting to note that Burke was sympathetically inclined towards the American Revolution because (1) he maintained that the British had badly misgoverned the colonies (2) he agreed with the traditional notion that there could be no taxation without representation, and (3) he considered that the American revolutionaries, in ousting British rule, had not rejected pre-existing values, customs and traditions.

According to Burke, society was an organic entity which meant it resembled a living organism, such as a plant, with interconnected and interdependent parts. When such a society needed to ‘change to conserve’ itself, the necessary reform had to be cautious and guided by empiricism and tradition because only gradual and limited change would preserve social and political stability. In Burke’s estimation, by pursuing radical change, the French Revolutionwas cutting itself off from the traditional stabilising ‘roots’ of organic society (e.g. established values, customs and institutions, such as the monarchy, the church and the landed aristocracy), thereby generating social and political chaos. He conceived society in terms of small local communities or ‘little platoons’ which gave their members security and status and acted as an obstacle to the development of selfish individualism and the centralizing tendencies he perceived in the French Revolution. Ultimately, Burke’s promotion of cautious change when necessary derived from his conviction that reform was a gradual piecemeal process whereby the governing elite made small accommodations and adjustments to preserve the existing political and social system in all or most of its essentials.

2. Tradition and empiricism should be valued, based on respect for practices passed down for generations

Burke’s stance on cautious, organic change was clearly linked to his defence of tradition and empiricism. Indeed, he maintained that ‘People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.’ Tradition and empiricism, in his view, provided an indispensable repository of accumulated wisdom and historical experience which had been stored in the institutions, values and customs that had stood the test of time. Consequently, Burke argued, the importance of tradition and empiricism should be recognised and passed on as a crucial guide for future generations, such as the ‘natural’ and responsible national leadership of the landed aristocracy who governed in the interests of all. From his perspective, respect for tradition and empiricism was vital for the preservation of social stability, established the natural parameters for ‘necessary’ reform and imposed a solemn duty to pass on this accumulated wisdom to the next generation. In this sense, Burke maintained, such a process becomes ‘a partnership between … those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are yet to be born.’ Furthermore, he regarded respect for tradition and empiricism as an essential means of promoting social cohesion and security by giving individuals and society a powerful sense of identity and ‘belonging’ based on shared connections with the past. As Burke asserted ‘When ancient opinions and rules of life are taken away, the loss cannot possibly be estimated. From that moment we have no compass to govern us, nor can we know distinctly to what port to steer.’

Impact of Burke’s ideas

Burke’s writings provided the intellectual rationale for a strand of Toryism that subsequently became known as one nation conservatism. Later Conservative Prime Ministers, particularly Benjamin Disraeli (1868, 1874 – 80) and Harold Macmillan (1957 – 63), drew on Burke’s arguments to govern as one nation conservatives by blending support for traditional institutions with a cautious and pragmatic approach to reform. Disraeli, for example, defended the monarchy and the Church of England on the grounds that they had stood the test of time, ensured stability and offered the whole population a focus for national loyalty and identity. Moreover, he introduced housing, food safety and voting reforms to improve conditions for the lower classes, dampen social discontent and forge a bond of trust between the governing class and the workers. Burke also put forward an influential anti-delegate theory of the role and duties of an MP, arguing that an elected representative should not only attach ‘great weight’ and ‘high respect’ to the views of their constituents but also exercise their own judgement as parliamentarians. As he famously said to the electors of Bristol in 1774, ‘Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays you instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.’