The regime they were throwing out was not tyrannical, rather the king was willing to make reforms. The French revolutionaries were largely composed of people who had abstract ideas about the way people ought to behave that they were willing to impose by force and destroy the rule of law in the process. While many of the politicians and philosophers around Burke praised the French revolution, Burke condemned it in this book. I hope you enjoy it as well.Įdmund Burke was an 18th century politician and philosopher and his most famous book is 'Reflections on the Revolution in France'. The perspective can make you angry at times or sad at times.

We have more technical solutions, but we have no solutions for the hearts and minds of populations. It is good to review such histories and momentous occasions. We are still the same set of creatures as then. Edmund Burke's book helps us know we humans have not progressed much in our thinking in over 200 years. We have recently seen revolutions that do not know how to build a new government. We have seen issues like this when one fights and wins a war, but does not know how to win the peace. One also gains a perspective of how a person thinks about the times as he sees the problems develop after a revolution. As I listen to Edmund Burke's ideas and words, one gains an insight of how people thought about the events in France in that time. In our times, we have developed a way of thinking about the past that is unique to ourselves and our time. What made the experience of listening to Reflections on the Revolution in France the most enjoyable? The French Revolution prompted one of his best-known works, Reflections on the Revolution in France. He championed the unpopular cause of Catholic emancipation and a great part of his career became dedicated to the problem of India. Said Russell Kirk, 'The Reflections must be read by anyone who wishes to understand the great controversies of modern politics.'Įdmund Burke (1729 - 1797) became a member of Parliament in 1765.

As a Christian - he was not a man of the Enlightenment - Burke knew religion to be man’s greatest good and established order to be a fundamental pillar of civilization.īlending history with principle and graceful imagery with profound practical maxims, this book is one of the most influential political treatises in the history of the world.

Doubtless the friend expected a favorable reply, but Burke was suspicious of certain tendencies of the Revolution from the start and perceived that the revolutionaries were actually subverting the true 'social order'. This famous treatise began as a letter to a young French friend who asked Edmund Burke’s opinion on whether France’s new ruling class would succeed in creating a better order.

Burke reflections