In Our Time: Philosophy Edmund Burke
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Jun 3, 2010 John Keane, a politics professor, examines Burke's views on empire and parliamentary life. Richard Bourke, a historian, traces Burke's influence across Britain and Europe. Karen O'Brien, an English professor, reads Burke’s style and ideas on taste and morality. They discuss Burke’s stance on the American colonies, the Warren Hastings case, his reaction to the French Revolution, and his lasting political legacy.
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Mixed Religious Upbringing
- Burke grew up in Dublin with a Protestant father and a Catholic mother, giving him a mixed perspective.
- That upbringing shaped his lifelong sympathy for threatened and minority communities.
Society As Natural And Fragile
- Burke's early Vindication of Natural Society introduced his idea that society rests on affections and conventions.
- He asked the key question "Who will guard the guardians?" about trusting power.
Sublime Versus Beautiful
- Burke distinguished the sublime (awe, self-preservation) from the beautiful (order, sociability).
- He linked aesthetic responses to fundamental human impulses shaping political thought.
