Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was a British-Irish philosopher, parliamentarian and political writer.

Life

Edmund Burke was born on 12 January 1729 on Arran Quay, Dublin as the son of a Protestant lawyer at the Irish Court, Richard Burke, and his Catholic wife Mary Nagle. Edmund and his two brothers were raised in the established Church of Ireland; his only sister Juliana, however, was brought up in the Catholic tradition, although she, too, was baptised in a Protestant church. This religious mixture in his parent’s marriage was to become of great significance in his adult life, shaping his thoughts in particular with regard to the political questions of Catholics and Ireland. At an early age Burke was sent to his mother’s Catholic relatives in Ballyduff in County Cork where he spent most of his childhood. When he was about eleven years old he came back home and attended a school in Dublin for about a year. Then he and his brothers were sent to a boarding school in Ballitore in County Kildare. Burke was fifteen when he left Ballitore school to attend Trinity College Dublin. There he and some fellow students founded a literary club (’Academy of Belles Lettres’) and later literary weekly called ’The Reformer’. In February 1748 Burke graduated. Two years later, conforming to his father’s wish, he began to study law at Middle Temple in London. Given his preference for writing, he abandoned his juridicial studies in 1755. One year later Burke published his first book A Vindication of Natural Society. In 1757 he married Jane Mary Nugent, the daughter of an Irish Catholic doctor, with whom he was to have two sons, Richard and Christopher (who died as a chlid). From 1759 to 1764 Burke worked as private secretary to William Hamilton, the Irish Chief Secretary, in Ireland. Back in London, he became Rockingham’s private secretary in 1765 and was elected to the House of Commons, which determined his career in politics. (Rockingham was the leading figure of a group of former Whigs whose party, little earlier, had been broken by King George III.) Bringing in his talents as a writer it was Burke who elaborated the political vision of his party the Rockingham Whigs (“Old Whigs“). He gave many speeches at parliament and became a famous and influential figure although he never held any office for a long time. Later, after the party had split, he publically broke with both sections, Fox and the Whigs, and continued writing on politics independently. FInally, Burke retired in 1794 and spent his last days away from political action, although he never stopped writing. He dies on 9 July 1797 at the age of 68 in Beaconsfield, England.

Political Work and Thought

Throughout the years, as a member of parliament and as a political writer, Burke was concerned with a great variety of issues among which were Britain’s rule in Ireland, North America and India. However, his critique of the French Revolution was to remain connected to his name. Although Burke produced a vast amount of writings, he did not impart a school of political thought that outlasted him.

Some Works

A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757)

A Vindication of Natural Society (1756)

An Account of the European Settlements (1757, co-author)

An Abridgement of English History (c.1757-62)

Annual Register (1758-1765, principal ‘conductor’)

American Taxation (1774)

Conciliation with America (1775)

Fox's East India Bill (1783)

Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770)

Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

An Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs (1791)

Letters on a Regicide Peace (1795-7)

A Letter to a Noble Lord (1796)

A Letter to William Elliot (1795)

Sources

Ayling, Stanley: Edmund Burke. His Life and Opinions. London: John Murray, 1988.

Harris, Ian, "Edmund Burke". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Stanford University. 13 Dec. 2009 <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2008/entries/burke/>.

Hill, B.W. (ed.): Edmund Burke. On Government, Politics and Society. Sussex: The Harvester Press, 1975. 7-64.