LITERATURE AND HUMANITIES

EDMUND BURKE AND POLITICAL THOUGHT

Speaker: Ian Crowe on 17 November 1998

The speaker started by giving background information on Burke’s life from his early years in Ireland, to his study of law in the Middle Temple and his career in English politics. He then discussed the areas where his
contribution was most significant, including the dispute with American colonies, his treatment of the French revolution and of the Irish issues.
Although a pragmatist who understood that the historical conditions and the temperament of the people must shape governmental action, Burke stressed certain principles as universal and fundamental to statesmanship. The absence of dogma in his writings combined with insistence on principle in the conduct of policy puzzled many of his contemporaries, but left an
important legacy in political thought.
Victor Suchar