Edmund Burke spent the bulk of his maturity dealing with political affairs, and his political thought reflects this experience. Indeed, Burke’s emphasis on the importance of tradition and history, along with his questions about the harmful effect of purely theoretical standpoints in politics has led some to dismiss him as unphilosophical. In fact, as we will see, Burke’s writings engages seriously with the great themes of political philosophy, although almost always in the context of particular questions of policy and choice. As a young man, moreover, he wrote an important work on the origin and meaning of beauty.
Burke’s writings have also had an important practical effect. His thoughtful opposition to the extremes of the French Revolution has made his Reflections on the Revolution in France a perennial source for understanding that event. His discussion of political parties in Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents is a basic source for understanding the meaning of modern party government. And his work was one source of the postwar American conservatism that resulted in the election of Ronald Reagan.
