Edmund Burke

Introduction
Early life
Political life
Burke’s thought and influence

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Edmund Burke summary

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Agathon (centre) greeting guests in "Plato's Symposium" oil on canvas by Anselm Feuerbach, 1869; in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany.

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Related Questions

How did Edmund Burke connect tradition with language manners and morals?
How did Edmund Burke define a political party?
How did Edmund Burke differ from Joseph de Maistre on conservatism?
How did Edmund Burke enter the House of Commons in 1765?
How did Edmund Burke predict that the French Revolution could lead to terror and dictatorship?
How did Edmund Burke work to reduce royal patronage and spending?
How did Edmund Burke’s ideas influence later conservative thinkers in Europe?
How did Edmund Burke’s support for the American Revolution fit his belief in traditional English liberties?
How did Edmund Burke’s views of the French Revolution end his friendship with Charles James Fox?
How did George III seek to increase the influence of the British crown?
What change did the Civil List Act make to the British monarchy’s finances?
What did Edmund Burke argue in his speech On American Taxation?
What solution did Edmund Burke propose in his speech on conciliation with the American colonies?
When and where was Edmund Burke born?
Where and when did Edmund Burke die?
Which European thinkers took notice of Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry?
Which constituency elected Edmund Burke to Parliament in 1774?
Which early work did Edmund Burke publish anonymously in 1756?
Which sermon prompted Edmund Burke to write Reflections on the Revolution in France?
Which writers and artists were among Edmund Burke’s friends?
Who was Jane Nugent?
Who was Warren Hastings?
Why did Edmund Burke become concerned about the East India Company’s rule in India?
Why did Edmund Burke believe inherited prejudices could contain social wisdom?
Why did Edmund Burke believe society was a partnership among the living the dead and future generations?
Why did Edmund Burke believe widespread colonial resistance showed that Britain had governed badly?
Why did Edmund Burke criticize George III’s choice of ministers?
Why did Edmund Burke distrust political systems based on abstract theories?
Why did Edmund Burke favor gradual political reform instead of revolutionary change?
Why did Edmund Burke give only qualified support to parliamentary reform?
Why did Edmund Burke lose his Bristol seat after six years?
Why did Edmund Burke oppose Britain’s coercive policies toward the American colonies?
Why did Edmund Burke oppose the French Revolution?
Why did Edmund Burke reject the idea that a member of Parliament should simply obey every instruction from voters?
Why did Edmund Burke seek the impeachment of Warren Hastings?
Why did Edmund Burke support an established church and a landed aristocracy?
Why did Edmund Burke support the Rockingham Whigs?
Why did Edmund Burke want independent commissioners to govern British India?
Why did Edmund Burke’s support for Irish reforms upset some of his Bristol constituents?
Why do many historians regard Edmund Burke’s prosecution of Warren Hastings as unjust?
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External Websites

History of Parliament Online - Edmund Burke
Social Sciences LibreTexts - Edmund Burke Â— Excerpts from Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790
Teach Democracy - Edmund Burke: The Father of Conservatism
Hoover Institution - Burke Between Liberty and Tradition
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Edmund Burke
History Today - Edmund Burke, Political Writer and Philosopher Dies
ABC listen - The Philosopher's Zone - Edmund Burke, revolution and reform
Dordt Digital Collections - Why Edmund Burke is Important
Great Thinkers - Biography of Edmund Burke
Online Library of Liberty - Edmund Burke: A Select Bibliography
BBC Sounds - In Our Time - Edmund Burke
World History Encyclopedia - Edmund Burke
The Russell Kirk Center - Edmund Burke
Dictionary of Irish Biography - Edmund Burke

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Edmund Burke

British philosopher and statesman

Written by

Charles William Parkin

Fellow and Lecturer of Clare College, University of Cambridge. Author of The Moral Basis of Burke's Political Thought.

Charles William Parkin

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Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

Edmund Burke (born January 12? [January 1, Old Style], 1729, Dublin, Ireland—died July 9, 1797, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England) was a British statesman, parliamentary orator, and political thinker prominent in public life from 1765 to about 1795 and important in the history of political theory. He championed conservatism in opposition to Jacobinism in Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). Burke, the son of a solicitor, entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1744 and moved to London...

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