L. G. Mitchell
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201045
- eISBN:
- 9780191674815
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201045.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Political History
Charles James Fox was one of the most colourful figures in 18th-century politics. Notorious for the excesses of his private life, he was at the same time one of the leading politicians of his ...
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Charles James Fox was one of the most colourful figures in 18th-century politics. Notorious for the excesses of his private life, he was at the same time one of the leading politicians of his generation, dominating the Whig party and polite society. As the political rival of Pitt the Younger and the intellectual rival of Edmund Burke, his views on the major issues of the day — the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, parliamentary reform — formed the character of Whiggery in his own time and for years to come. Fox's historical reputation has been hotly disputed. Some have hailed him as one of the founding fathers of Radicalism, others have dismissed him as an irritating and irresponsible impediment to the statesmanship of Pitt. This book shows that in many ways Fox was a politician through circumstance, not inclination. The book analyses the ties of kinship and friendship which to an astonishing degree dictated Fox's politics, and offers striking new assessments of Whiggery and its most potent personality.Less
Charles James Fox was one of the most colourful figures in 18th-century politics. Notorious for the excesses of his private life, he was at the same time one of the leading politicians of his generation, dominating the Whig party and polite society. As the political rival of Pitt the Younger and the intellectual rival of Edmund Burke, his views on the major issues of the day — the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, parliamentary reform — formed the character of Whiggery in his own time and for years to come. Fox's historical reputation has been hotly disputed. Some have hailed him as one of the founding fathers of Radicalism, others have dismissed him as an irritating and irresponsible impediment to the statesmanship of Pitt. This book shows that in many ways Fox was a politician through circumstance, not inclination. The book analyses the ties of kinship and friendship which to an astonishing degree dictated Fox's politics, and offers striking new assessments of Whiggery and its most potent personality.
Nigel Aston
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205968
- eISBN:
- 9780191676871
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205968.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, History of Religion
The place of religion in the life of Edmund Burke remains a phenomenon as elusive as it is compelling, central to his vision in the 1790s. There are some areas of consensus. Most scholars, for ...
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The place of religion in the life of Edmund Burke remains a phenomenon as elusive as it is compelling, central to his vision in the 1790s. There are some areas of consensus. Most scholars, for instance, are in no doubt about the importance of religion for Burke in validating the existence of the State through an established Church, and in ‘consecrating’ its laws and institutions. This chapter's concern is the problematic issue of Burke's specifically Christian identity, particularly in his later years. His religious position is undeniably complicated and the element of the politique in his views steadily diminishes. He ends as catholic and eirenic, but not Roman Catholic, within an irreducible Anglican framework that defied both ready labelling or reduction to expediency, and satisfied his unshakable sense of the divine reality.Less
The place of religion in the life of Edmund Burke remains a phenomenon as elusive as it is compelling, central to his vision in the 1790s. There are some areas of consensus. Most scholars, for instance, are in no doubt about the importance of religion for Burke in validating the existence of the State through an established Church, and in ‘consecrating’ its laws and institutions. This chapter's concern is the problematic issue of Burke's specifically Christian identity, particularly in his later years. His religious position is undeniably complicated and the element of the politique in his views steadily diminishes. He ends as catholic and eirenic, but not Roman Catholic, within an irreducible Anglican framework that defied both ready labelling or reduction to expediency, and satisfied his unshakable sense of the divine reality.
W.J. Mc Cormack
- Published in print:
- 1985
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198128069
- eISBN:
- 9780191671630
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198128069.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
In the 18th century Ireland and England were different from each other. At the end of the 19th century they were still different #x2014;different from each other and from what they had been. This ...
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In the 18th century Ireland and England were different from each other. At the end of the 19th century they were still different #x2014;different from each other and from what they had been. This chapter does not discuss the political, economical, and societal differences between Ireland and England but focuses on the particular manifestations of Anglo-Irish relations in cultural terms. The chapter begins with history because the literary movement is deeply concerned with the bonds existing between the past and the present and because of the implied historical interpretations of the olden times. The chapter also touches on Edmund Burke's writings and the sentiments he had for the Anglo-Irish culture and the issue of Protestant Ascendancy.Less
In the 18th century Ireland and England were different from each other. At the end of the 19th century they were still different #x2014;different from each other and from what they had been. This chapter does not discuss the political, economical, and societal differences between Ireland and England but focuses on the particular manifestations of Anglo-Irish relations in cultural terms. The chapter begins with history because the literary movement is deeply concerned with the bonds existing between the past and the present and because of the implied historical interpretations of the olden times. The chapter also touches on Edmund Burke's writings and the sentiments he had for the Anglo-Irish culture and the issue of Protestant Ascendancy.
Jonathan Sachs
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195376128
- eISBN:
- 9780199871643
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195376128.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
In their polemical responses to the French revolution, Edmund Burke, William Godwin, John Thelwall, and others deploy Roman texts and Roman heroes for opposing sides in the conflict. Burke bolsters ...
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In their polemical responses to the French revolution, Edmund Burke, William Godwin, John Thelwall, and others deploy Roman texts and Roman heroes for opposing sides in the conflict. Burke bolsters his argument with Roman texts, especially Cicero, but his appeal to Roman precedent rests uneasily with his emphasis on specifically national precedent. Godwin, though traditionally considered a “radical” thinker, relies on the exemplary praise of Roman heroes in a backwards looking manner that often works against his progressivism. Ultimately, this chapter uses its focus on contests over the Roman republican legacy in the Revolution Controversy to argue that this important debate on political philosophy is something more complicated than a simple opposition between “radical” and “conservative” positions.Less
In their polemical responses to the French revolution, Edmund Burke, William Godwin, John Thelwall, and others deploy Roman texts and Roman heroes for opposing sides in the conflict. Burke bolsters his argument with Roman texts, especially Cicero, but his appeal to Roman precedent rests uneasily with his emphasis on specifically national precedent. Godwin, though traditionally considered a “radical” thinker, relies on the exemplary praise of Roman heroes in a backwards looking manner that often works against his progressivism. Ultimately, this chapter uses its focus on contests over the Roman republican legacy in the Revolution Controversy to argue that this important debate on political philosophy is something more complicated than a simple opposition between “radical” and “conservative” positions.
William Bain
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199260263
- eISBN:
- 9780191600975
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199260265.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The idea of trusteeship in international society originates in late 18th century British India. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the emergence of trusteeship as a justification of political ...
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The idea of trusteeship in international society originates in late 18th century British India. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the emergence of trusteeship as a justification of political power in territories administered by the East India Company. The chapter has five sections: From Merchant to Sovereign in British India; The Claim to Rule; The Relations of Ruler and Subject; The Purpose of the Office of Government; and Providing Protection, Directing Improvement.Less
The idea of trusteeship in international society originates in late 18th century British India. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the emergence of trusteeship as a justification of political power in territories administered by the East India Company. The chapter has five sections: From Merchant to Sovereign in British India; The Claim to Rule; The Relations of Ruler and Subject; The Purpose of the Office of Government; and Providing Protection, Directing Improvement.
Bradley J. Birzer
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780813166186
- eISBN:
- 9780813166643
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813166186.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Chapter 3 explores Kirk’s life from the end of his conscription in 1946 to the publication of his dissertation in 1953. It examines Kirk’s time in Scotland as well as the development of his ideas on ...
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Chapter 3 explores Kirk’s life from the end of his conscription in 1946 to the publication of his dissertation in 1953. It examines Kirk’s time in Scotland as well as the development of his ideas on conservatism as rooted in the thought of the Anglo-Irish statesman Edmund Burke. Finally, it retells the story of Kirk’s (in)famous resignation from Michigan State in the fall of 1953 and his determination to make his life as a private “man of letters.”Less
Chapter 3 explores Kirk’s life from the end of his conscription in 1946 to the publication of his dissertation in 1953. It examines Kirk’s time in Scotland as well as the development of his ideas on conservatism as rooted in the thought of the Anglo-Irish statesman Edmund Burke. Finally, it retells the story of Kirk’s (in)famous resignation from Michigan State in the fall of 1953 and his determination to make his life as a private “man of letters.”
Richard Bourke
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691175652
- eISBN:
- 9781400873456
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691175652.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Political History
This chapter details Burke's political life from 1765 to 1774. During his early years in parliament, developments in Britain and Ireland proved formative politically and intellectually for Burke. ...
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This chapter details Burke's political life from 1765 to 1774. During his early years in parliament, developments in Britain and Ireland proved formative politically and intellectually for Burke. Throughout the course of his first years in the Commons, the main threat to domestic consensus seemed unlikely to come from the growth of religious conflict. In 1772, he opposed the idea of relieving the Anglican clergy of the duty of subscribing to the tenets of the established Church on the grounds that the security of religion required a community of belief based on agreed doctrines and a uniform liturgy. Yet he insisted that this should be accompanied by generous toleration. In 1769, the exclusion of John Wilkes from parliament betrayed government contempt for liberty and a disregard for popular sentiment. In response, Burke provided his party with a probing analysis of the causes for the growing alienation of the public from the administration.Less
This chapter details Burke's political life from 1765 to 1774. During his early years in parliament, developments in Britain and Ireland proved formative politically and intellectually for Burke. Throughout the course of his first years in the Commons, the main threat to domestic consensus seemed unlikely to come from the growth of religious conflict. In 1772, he opposed the idea of relieving the Anglican clergy of the duty of subscribing to the tenets of the established Church on the grounds that the security of religion required a community of belief based on agreed doctrines and a uniform liturgy. Yet he insisted that this should be accompanied by generous toleration. In 1769, the exclusion of John Wilkes from parliament betrayed government contempt for liberty and a disregard for popular sentiment. In response, Burke provided his party with a probing analysis of the causes for the growing alienation of the public from the administration.
Athol Fitzgibbons
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198283201
- eISBN:
- 9780191596254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198283202.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, History of Economic Thought
Explains how Keynes derived the ‘third way’ from the political philosophy of Edmund Burke, examines how Keynes based his political philosophy on ethics, and considers the implications for liberalism.
Explains how Keynes derived the ‘third way’ from the political philosophy of Edmund Burke, examines how Keynes based his political philosophy on ethics, and considers the implications for liberalism.
F. P. Lock
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199541539
- eISBN:
- 9780191701238
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199541539.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, History of Ideas
This is the concluding volume of a biography of Edmund Burke, a key figure in eighteenth-century British and Irish politics and intellectual life. Covering the years 1784–97, its leading themes are ...
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This is the concluding volume of a biography of Edmund Burke, a key figure in eighteenth-century British and Irish politics and intellectual life. Covering the years 1784–97, its leading themes are India and the French Revolution. Burke was largely responsible for the impeachment of Warren Hastings, former Governor-General of Bengal, whose long trial is recognized as a landmark in the history of Britain's relationship with India. The author provides the first day-by-day account of the entire trial, highlighting some of the many disputes about evidence, as well as the great speeches by Burke and others. In 1790, Burke published Reflections on the Revolution in France, the earliest sustained attack on the principles of the Revolution. This remains, to this day, the most widely read book on the subject. Additionally, the biography examines Burke's parliamentary career, his family, friendships, philanthropy, and personality. The book's numerous illustrations and contemporary caricatures convey how Burke was perceived by an uncomprehending public. Controversial in his time, he is now regarded as one of the greatest orators in the English language, as well as one of the most influential political philosophers in the Western tradition.Less
This is the concluding volume of a biography of Edmund Burke, a key figure in eighteenth-century British and Irish politics and intellectual life. Covering the years 1784–97, its leading themes are India and the French Revolution. Burke was largely responsible for the impeachment of Warren Hastings, former Governor-General of Bengal, whose long trial is recognized as a landmark in the history of Britain's relationship with India. The author provides the first day-by-day account of the entire trial, highlighting some of the many disputes about evidence, as well as the great speeches by Burke and others. In 1790, Burke published Reflections on the Revolution in France, the earliest sustained attack on the principles of the Revolution. This remains, to this day, the most widely read book on the subject. Additionally, the biography examines Burke's parliamentary career, his family, friendships, philanthropy, and personality. The book's numerous illustrations and contemporary caricatures convey how Burke was perceived by an uncomprehending public. Controversial in his time, he is now regarded as one of the greatest orators in the English language, as well as one of the most influential political philosophers in the Western tradition.
F.P. Lock
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199226634
- eISBN:
- 9780191696244
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226634.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, History of Ideas
Edmund Burke (1730–1797) was one of the most profound, versatile, and accomplished thinkers of the eighteenth century. Born and educated in Dublin, he moved to London to study law, but remained to ...
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Edmund Burke (1730–1797) was one of the most profound, versatile, and accomplished thinkers of the eighteenth century. Born and educated in Dublin, he moved to London to study law, but remained to make a career in English politics, completing A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757) before entering the political arena. A Member of Parliament for nearly thirty years, his speeches are still read and studied as classics of political thought, and through his best-known work, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), he has continued to exercise a posthumous influence as ‘the father of conservatism’. This, the first of two volumes, covers the years between 1730–1784, and describes Burke's Irish upbringing and education, early writing, and his parliamentary career throughout the momentous years of the American War of Independence. Lavishly illustrated, the book provides an authoritative account of the complexity and breadth of Burke's philosophical and political writing and examines its origins in his personal experiences and the political world of his day.Less
Edmund Burke (1730–1797) was one of the most profound, versatile, and accomplished thinkers of the eighteenth century. Born and educated in Dublin, he moved to London to study law, but remained to make a career in English politics, completing A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757) before entering the political arena. A Member of Parliament for nearly thirty years, his speeches are still read and studied as classics of political thought, and through his best-known work, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), he has continued to exercise a posthumous influence as ‘the father of conservatism’. This, the first of two volumes, covers the years between 1730–1784, and describes Burke's Irish upbringing and education, early writing, and his parliamentary career throughout the momentous years of the American War of Independence. Lavishly illustrated, the book provides an authoritative account of the complexity and breadth of Burke's philosophical and political writing and examines its origins in his personal experiences and the political world of his day.
Richard Bourke
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691175652
- eISBN:
- 9781400873456
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691175652.003.0015
- Subject:
- History, Political History
This chapter details Burke's political life from 1791 to 1793. After 1790, Burke's career was shaped by the reaction to the Reflections. The work was a sophisticated polemical assault on attempts to ...
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This chapter details Burke's political life from 1791 to 1793. After 1790, Burke's career was shaped by the reaction to the Reflections. The work was a sophisticated polemical assault on attempts to reduce the rights and responsibilities of citizenship to a perilous ideal of self-government. However, it was widely construed as an attack on the equality of human beings and the accountability of governments to the people whom they ruled. In fact, it was a critique of the resort to primitive equality as a justification for destroying equitable relations in civil society. At the same time, its aim was to distinguish responsible government from popular tyranny. From Burke's vantage, the doctrine of the rights of man represented a crusade against the values of cohesion and responsibility, and was therefore liable to shatter society and government altogether. However, the force of his argument was drowned out by subsequent political rhetoric.Less
This chapter details Burke's political life from 1791 to 1793. After 1790, Burke's career was shaped by the reaction to the Reflections. The work was a sophisticated polemical assault on attempts to reduce the rights and responsibilities of citizenship to a perilous ideal of self-government. However, it was widely construed as an attack on the equality of human beings and the accountability of governments to the people whom they ruled. In fact, it was a critique of the resort to primitive equality as a justification for destroying equitable relations in civil society. At the same time, its aim was to distinguish responsible government from popular tyranny. From Burke's vantage, the doctrine of the rights of man represented a crusade against the values of cohesion and responsibility, and was therefore liable to shatter society and government altogether. However, the force of his argument was drowned out by subsequent political rhetoric.
Harlan Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262028059
- eISBN:
- 9780262325264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262028059.003.0009
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Harlan Wilson’s essay on Edmund Burke brings out affinities and tensions between green and conservative thought. Burke’s aesthetics, especially his writings about gardens, favor a cooperative ...
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Harlan Wilson’s essay on Edmund Burke brings out affinities and tensions between green and conservative thought. Burke’s aesthetics, especially his writings about gardens, favor a cooperative relationship between nature and art. More significant, though, is Burke’s emphasis on complexity in both nature and society, which feeds into a focus on intergenerational obligation and caution about risks and innovation. Thus Burke anticipates many green values, such as an intergenerational time horizon, sustainability, stewardship, and the precautionary principle. On the other hand, Burke’s emphasis on prejudice and tradition might serve to uphold long-standing crude anthropocentric values that sanction the exploitation and unrestrained development of nature, and Burke’s defense of private property and his later writings extolling the free market as a source of inequality and lower-class deference also present obvious tensions with environmentalism. These tensions are not unlike those separating greens and conservatives today.Less
Harlan Wilson’s essay on Edmund Burke brings out affinities and tensions between green and conservative thought. Burke’s aesthetics, especially his writings about gardens, favor a cooperative relationship between nature and art. More significant, though, is Burke’s emphasis on complexity in both nature and society, which feeds into a focus on intergenerational obligation and caution about risks and innovation. Thus Burke anticipates many green values, such as an intergenerational time horizon, sustainability, stewardship, and the precautionary principle. On the other hand, Burke’s emphasis on prejudice and tradition might serve to uphold long-standing crude anthropocentric values that sanction the exploitation and unrestrained development of nature, and Burke’s defense of private property and his later writings extolling the free market as a source of inequality and lower-class deference also present obvious tensions with environmentalism. These tensions are not unlike those separating greens and conservatives today.
Iain Hampsher-Monk
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264393
- eISBN:
- 9780191734571
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264393.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter discusses Edmund Burke and the British Empire. The first section discusses the background of the concept of empire as it was available to Burke and his contemporaries. The second section ...
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This chapter discusses Edmund Burke and the British Empire. The first section discusses the background of the concept of empire as it was available to Burke and his contemporaries. The second section examines the ways in which the rise of political economy affected the perception of the empire, and in particular the tension between the political reason of the state and what were increasingly claimed to be imperatives of the international trading system. The last section evaluates Burke’s position on this controversial nexus between the empire and political economy.Less
This chapter discusses Edmund Burke and the British Empire. The first section discusses the background of the concept of empire as it was available to Burke and his contemporaries. The second section examines the ways in which the rise of political economy affected the perception of the empire, and in particular the tension between the political reason of the state and what were increasingly claimed to be imperatives of the international trading system. The last section evaluates Burke’s position on this controversial nexus between the empire and political economy.
Daniel I. O’Neill
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520287822
- eISBN:
- 9780520962866
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520287822.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This chapter examines Edmund Burke's views on the place of his homeland, Ireland, within the British Empire. It begins by situating Burke's biography, with its dual Protestant and Catholic elements, ...
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This chapter examines Edmund Burke's views on the place of his homeland, Ireland, within the British Empire. It begins by situating Burke's biography, with its dual Protestant and Catholic elements, within the broader context of Ireland's ambiguous historical status both as a quasi-independent sister kingdom within the framework of “multiple monarchy” and as a colony subordinate to England. It then considers Burke's stand regarding absentee taxation, free trade, and Ireland's legislative independence to highlight his willingness to keep Ireland as a subordinate part of the empire and at the same time alleviate the plight of Irish Catholics. It also discusses Burke's fear that the Protestant Ascendancy was leading the Irish lower and middling orders of both Catholics and Protestant Dissenters to coalesce in support of the United Irishmen. The chapter argues that Burke would have favored the union of Great Britain and Ireland, which in fact occurred only a few short years after his death.Less
This chapter examines Edmund Burke's views on the place of his homeland, Ireland, within the British Empire. It begins by situating Burke's biography, with its dual Protestant and Catholic elements, within the broader context of Ireland's ambiguous historical status both as a quasi-independent sister kingdom within the framework of “multiple monarchy” and as a colony subordinate to England. It then considers Burke's stand regarding absentee taxation, free trade, and Ireland's legislative independence to highlight his willingness to keep Ireland as a subordinate part of the empire and at the same time alleviate the plight of Irish Catholics. It also discusses Burke's fear that the Protestant Ascendancy was leading the Irish lower and middling orders of both Catholics and Protestant Dissenters to coalesce in support of the United Irishmen. The chapter argues that Burke would have favored the union of Great Britain and Ireland, which in fact occurred only a few short years after his death.
Norma Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300088175
- eISBN:
- 9780300128055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300088175.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Mary Shelley are a cohort of writers on the modern state who are practiced in the artful extreme and in the school of Machiavelli. However, modern readers are ...
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Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Mary Shelley are a cohort of writers on the modern state who are practiced in the artful extreme and in the school of Machiavelli. However, modern readers are slow to connect them despite the closeness of their enterprises. This chapter reconsiders the alliances of modern rhetoric to illustrate the richness of this shared mode. It argues that when Burke sought to restore a dignity to a feminine perspective; when Wollstonecraft sought to extend the application of the masculine perspective; and when Shelley pursued their intertwined fates, each was picking up on a Machiavellian lead, to seek for change in a vocabulary of untried possibilities.Less
Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Mary Shelley are a cohort of writers on the modern state who are practiced in the artful extreme and in the school of Machiavelli. However, modern readers are slow to connect them despite the closeness of their enterprises. This chapter reconsiders the alliances of modern rhetoric to illustrate the richness of this shared mode. It argues that when Burke sought to restore a dignity to a feminine perspective; when Wollstonecraft sought to extend the application of the masculine perspective; and when Shelley pursued their intertwined fates, each was picking up on a Machiavellian lead, to seek for change in a vocabulary of untried possibilities.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804781275
- eISBN:
- 9780804783354
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804781275.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter explains Burke's successful penetration of Tully's Head by showing how his upbringing and education in Ireland had already infused his writing with Popeian imitations and had prepared ...
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This chapter explains Burke's successful penetration of Tully's Head by showing how his upbringing and education in Ireland had already infused his writing with Popeian imitations and had prepared him for the salient aspects of Patriot debate in London. It challenges widely accepted notions that Burke's “Irishness” would have been a severe handicap in an increasingly assertive and nationalistic England, and shows how the vibrant exchange of ideas and personnel in publishing and literary circles across the Irish Sea contributed to his identity as a writer and critic.Less
This chapter explains Burke's successful penetration of Tully's Head by showing how his upbringing and education in Ireland had already infused his writing with Popeian imitations and had prepared him for the salient aspects of Patriot debate in London. It challenges widely accepted notions that Burke's “Irishness” would have been a severe handicap in an increasingly assertive and nationalistic England, and shows how the vibrant exchange of ideas and personnel in publishing and literary circles across the Irish Sea contributed to his identity as a writer and critic.
Daniel I. O’Neill
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520287822
- eISBN:
- 9780520962866
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520287822.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This chapter examines Edmund Burke's conception of empire in context by focusing on the etymology of the term empire and the ideology of British Empire in the eighteenth century. After discussing the ...
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This chapter examines Edmund Burke's conception of empire in context by focusing on the etymology of the term empire and the ideology of British Empire in the eighteenth century. After discussing the definition of the term empire and what it had come to mean for the British in the eighteenth century, the chapter challenges the notion that Burke was an anti-imperialist or anticolonial thinker. Through extensive reference to his writings on America, India, and Ireland, it argues that Burke in fact willingly embraced and defended the British Empire over the entire course of his long political career and across all three principal sites of the eighteenth-century empire. In India, for example, Burke exculpated the East India Company in general and Robert Clive and his immediate successors in particular for the horrors of the Bengal famine. The chapter concludes by analyzing Burke's conservative logic of empire.Less
This chapter examines Edmund Burke's conception of empire in context by focusing on the etymology of the term empire and the ideology of British Empire in the eighteenth century. After discussing the definition of the term empire and what it had come to mean for the British in the eighteenth century, the chapter challenges the notion that Burke was an anti-imperialist or anticolonial thinker. Through extensive reference to his writings on America, India, and Ireland, it argues that Burke in fact willingly embraced and defended the British Empire over the entire course of his long political career and across all three principal sites of the eighteenth-century empire. In India, for example, Burke exculpated the East India Company in general and Robert Clive and his immediate successors in particular for the horrors of the Bengal famine. The chapter concludes by analyzing Burke's conservative logic of empire.
Daniel I. O’Neill
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520287822
- eISBN:
- 9780520962866
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520287822.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This chapter examines Edmund Burke's belief that the British Empire must be kept together and expanded in the New World. More specifically, it considers Burke's use of arguments based on ...
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This chapter examines Edmund Burke's belief that the British Empire must be kept together and expanded in the New World. More specifically, it considers Burke's use of arguments based on Ornamentalism and Orientalism in an attempt to delineate the appropriate boundaries between liberty and subordination for the various peoples in America and the Caribbean living under imperial rule, particularly Native Americans and African slaves. It also discusses Burke's support for a policy of conciliation with the colonies built on the moral psychology of “sympathy” he endorsed-an approach that stressed the importance of civilizational solidarity between Britain and colonial America built on their underlying similarity. Finally, it explores Burke's later views on slavery and his decision to support Britain's total war against the forces of the French Revolution in the West Indies.Less
This chapter examines Edmund Burke's belief that the British Empire must be kept together and expanded in the New World. More specifically, it considers Burke's use of arguments based on Ornamentalism and Orientalism in an attempt to delineate the appropriate boundaries between liberty and subordination for the various peoples in America and the Caribbean living under imperial rule, particularly Native Americans and African slaves. It also discusses Burke's support for a policy of conciliation with the colonies built on the moral psychology of “sympathy” he endorsed-an approach that stressed the importance of civilizational solidarity between Britain and colonial America built on their underlying similarity. Finally, it explores Burke's later views on slavery and his decision to support Britain's total war against the forces of the French Revolution in the West Indies.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804781275
- eISBN:
- 9780804783354
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804781275.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter examines Burke's historical writings for what they tell us about his understanding of the role of history as a vehicle of public criticism and moral and civic education. In so doing, it ...
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This chapter examines Burke's historical writings for what they tell us about his understanding of the role of history as a vehicle of public criticism and moral and civic education. In so doing, it focuses particularly on the “Abridgment,” since that is the most substantial of the historical texts attributable entirely to Edmund Burke, but the analysis will be supported at various points with references to the other materials. The features of the “Abridgment” that emerge most strongly from this alternative methodology are first, the incorporation of providence within the narrative; second, the rehabilitation of religious institutions in the growth of civilized societies; and third, the fracturing of any organic or systematic pattern of social and political development.Less
This chapter examines Burke's historical writings for what they tell us about his understanding of the role of history as a vehicle of public criticism and moral and civic education. In so doing, it focuses particularly on the “Abridgment,” since that is the most substantial of the historical texts attributable entirely to Edmund Burke, but the analysis will be supported at various points with references to the other materials. The features of the “Abridgment” that emerge most strongly from this alternative methodology are first, the incorporation of providence within the narrative; second, the rehabilitation of religious institutions in the growth of civilized societies; and third, the fracturing of any organic or systematic pattern of social and political development.
Richard Bourke
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691175652
- eISBN:
- 9781400873456
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691175652.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Political History
Burke spent the first twenty years of his life in Ireland, dividing his time between Cork, Kildare, and Dublin. These different locations corresponded to distinct cultural environments: his Catholic ...
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Burke spent the first twenty years of his life in Ireland, dividing his time between Cork, Kildare, and Dublin. These different locations corresponded to distinct cultural environments: his Catholic relations, his Quaker school, and his Church of Ireland upbringing. As a youth he believed that custom could be educated by reason, enabling individuals to transcend their cultural confinement. It was only later, in the 1750s, that he came to contend that our rational faculties could productively be constrained by habit. This chapter discusses the formation of Burke's early prejudices and charts his commitment to the idea that their cruder manifestations could be improved by a process of rational inquiry. By the late 1740s, while editing The Reformer after graduating from Trinity College Dublin, he was campaigning to accelerate that process by contributing to the refinement of national taste.Less
Burke spent the first twenty years of his life in Ireland, dividing his time between Cork, Kildare, and Dublin. These different locations corresponded to distinct cultural environments: his Catholic relations, his Quaker school, and his Church of Ireland upbringing. As a youth he believed that custom could be educated by reason, enabling individuals to transcend their cultural confinement. It was only later, in the 1750s, that he came to contend that our rational faculties could productively be constrained by habit. This chapter discusses the formation of Burke's early prejudices and charts his commitment to the idea that their cruder manifestations could be improved by a process of rational inquiry. By the late 1740s, while editing The Reformer after graduating from Trinity College Dublin, he was campaigning to accelerate that process by contributing to the refinement of national taste.
