Reflections on the Revolution in France (Oxford World's Classics)
by Edmund Burke
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Read in January, 1998
recommended to Paula by:
Burke quotes that I came acrossrecommends it for: To all Citizens
Burke published this book before Napoleon took power, before the bloodbath of the purges, before the French had beheaded their king. Yet, he predicted that all of that would happen. At first blush, I thought that the man must be a prophet. He fortold it all, in the exact order it would occur, and understood exactly why it would happen. Since that first reading, I have read quite a bit of history, and have learned how Burke did it. He was a genius for certain, but his extraordinary insight came f...more
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Read in October, 2007
The classic work by the father of modern conservatism. Burke criticizes the architects of the French Revolution and the new revolutionary government for their unyielding radicalism and wanton destruction of society's institutions. In Burke's view, the traditions of of society should be respected and its institutions altered gradually; a tradition should be eliminated or an institution replaced, only if there is a reasonable assurance that society as a whole will benefit. Some of this is prett...more
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One of the best books ever written at any time or place. Burke makes a lucid argument in favor of tradition instead of abstract theory. It is the most simplistic un-abstract work of political philosophy you will ever read, but it is the best. Burke strongly rebukes abstract theory for common sense. "Follow the wisdom of the ages." Something is old because it is good. Revolutionaries are always wrong. Evolutionary change is more lasting. Humans progress on some points but also g...more
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recommends it for:
those who have yet to lose hope
I need to quite overestimating my ability/desire to read 18th century philosophical observations. I couldn't get through 20 pages of this. Has it come to this?
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I just blacked out and woke up with a David Sedaris book in my lap. In the faint distance I hear a church bell mourning the death of my intellectual elitism.
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I just blacked out and woke up with a David Sedaris book in my lap. In the faint distance I hear a church bell mourning the death of my intellectual elitism.
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Read in April, 2008
This is certainly a hard piece of work to get through.
For the historian: a glimpse at the French Revolution through the eyes of a renowned 19th Century whig politician, complete with slant. For the philosopher: a patchwork of far-reaching deductions, both the obvious and the subtle.
Well worth a read.
For the historian: a glimpse at the French Revolution through the eyes of a renowned 19th Century whig politician, complete with slant. For the philosopher: a patchwork of far-reaching deductions, both the obvious and the subtle.
Well worth a read.
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An incredibly dense read, as most philosophy is, but as a conservative, it's fun to read this, the bedrock of modern conservatism. For those with a basic understanding of what happened during the French Revolution, this is a good primary source to build upon.
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Read in June, 2005
Meet the book that prevented the French Revolution from jumping across the channel into England. It remains the granddaddy expose of leftism, or what we call today (perversely) liberalism.
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Read in March, 2008
This book pertains to current affairs so well. It's amazing how little politics changes over the years.
An insightful book into human nature, government, and the repetition of history.
An insightful book into human nature, government, and the repetition of history.
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