The Rage of Edmund Burke

by Isaac Kramnick

The Burke that emerges from Professor Kramnick's sensitive reinterpretation--the troubled ambivalent bourgeois--is vastly more interesting and truly significant than the mythic defender of the old order that generations have worshipped and misunderstood.

Genres: Philosophy

238 pages, Hardcover

First published September 25, 1977

About the author

Isaac Kramnick was an American political theorist, historian of political thought, political scientist, and the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government at Cornell University. He was a subject-matter expert on English and American political thought and history.

Reviews

[Andrew Olazo · Rating 4 out of 5]

To understand “The Rage of Edmund Burke”, you would have to know who he was, and what his thought process was. Edmund Burke lived during the French Revolution, a time where everyone was trying to advance civilization through violence and death. He is a very popular and well-known conservative writer. He is most famous for his essays on all different topics; from Christianity to all organized societies. In this book Isaac Kramnick introduces a newer and more extreme view of Edmund Burke’s thoughts on politics, conservatism and social changes. In this reinterpretation, Professor Kramnick includes everything from Burke’s conservative prophesies, to Burke’s personal life in Ireland, to even his own personality and the relationship between the three. Burke was the most outspoken voice against the French Revolution and supporter of conservatism, which is formed by an upset at those who wish to basically “fix something that is not broken.”- the French Revolution. What angered Burke was that these revolutionaries did not respect the “old ways”, the traditional ways. With what he was seeing, he concluded that “ the age of chivalry was gone,’ Burke wrote, and ‘that of sophisters, economists, and calculators had succeeded.” A conclusion that still reigns true to this day.

One completely relevant quote from this book outlines our modern economics and what our governments have decided to do. He describes our world as being dictated by “sophisters, economists and calculators” (Kramnick 3) and with this quote I found myself agreeing with this statements, especially the sophisters. From 1945 to 1998 the United States had detonated 1032 nuclear bombs all over the world and even in our own country. This is an excessive amount of detonations and I cannot find a reason other than that we just did it to do. Some may say that we needed this amount to observe the other effects of nuclear warheads, but I am most certain that 1032 detonations were not needed to find out what we know about them today. What possibly could have been discovered in the 1032nd detonation that was not discovered at the 1st or 2nd? If Burke were to be alive today I am sure he would be expressing all of his“…fury at those who would tamper with the stability and peace of the order that already is” (3), towards the United State’s current involvement in other countries. At the time of the French Revolution he despised revolutionaries for trying to advance civilization through death and violence, somewhat similar to the sort of revolutionary freedom that America is imposing through military superiority onto other countries, such as the Vietnam and Korea, all because the US did not agree with their adopted government. Within recent years, homosexuality has been an issue that has reached all ears in the US. The LGBT community is currently swaying a majority of the states to allow homosexual partnership, and is progressing in the fight against sexuality discrimination. Although I am not sure that Burke would completely agree with these current events. In his rather ambivalent defense of homosexuals he states that sodomy was “a crime of all others the most detestable”, but also shows compassion by suggesting that the punishment for such a crime should be of “reproach and shame” rather than that of “cruelty and fury” (84). Now of course this is a different time, but if Burke were to be alive, he would have the more unpopular opinion, rather than praised as he was during his time. The thought of sodomy and homosexuality as a crime and punishable would be quickly responded to and rebuked by a majority of the community. Although some of his ideas are inapplicable to the current times of today, most of his ideas that he so passionately wrote and advocated still carry meaning and are applicable to most situations that haunt our political governments today.

Considering that this book is an explanatory piece written to clarify the ideologies of Edmund Burke, there is not much bias can be implemented in this piece. Although there may be some slight bias, if any, due to the extensive reputation of Edmund Burke and his conservative advocacy or even the ambivalence that was present during various portions of his life. The “love-hate ambivalence towards his betters” and “his ambivalence to his father” may cause the writer and reader to second guess some of his political views, as they may think that he himself is unsure of his own ideas and theories, so why should we even bother with associating ourselves with any of his writings (63). Edmund Burke’s esteemed reputation could have easily swayed the writer and the readers into thinking that since everyone else likes him, I should too, and I myself have succumbed to such an effect. He has been revered to attain “nearly legendary status” and “the fundamental elements of all political knowledge” and has had the praise of a majority of his readers (xi). His intricately written pieces, thought out theories, and fame had convinced me that he was one of the greatest conservative activists to date, although I am not sure if I am conditioned to say these compliments by the extensive reputation he has or if I actually find his writings captivating. If multitude of people, including me, could have been swayed by the fame and reputation I am sure that the writer could have been influenced by his impressive track record. Although he has had many successes and has obtained the praise of a majority of his peers, he has had some outliers that have criticized his works as “evidence of rottenness of his mind” by the famous Thomas Jefferson (xi). Criticisms like this could have sparked an effort to be one o the few people debunk Burke and stand out from the rest of the Burke worshipers, which could have resulted in the mentioning of Burkes ambivalence. All of these could possibly be a bias in the author, but it could not have been much of an effect because it seems that the author for the most part stayed impartial and very considerate in his writings, although this may not be true for some parts.