Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke
- Against the revolution from the start
- Gov't follows nature (which is right)?
- England's Monarchy worked
- The known past that worked well is better than an unknown of the future
- Conservative approach to past

Feudal System
- People who owned land had more right to participate in government
- Chivalry system is an idea to go back to
- Said this was a good system to use and continue to use it
- "Natural" to follow the past examples, however Burke based this upon illusions which is unnatural
- Individual people don't matter, but the roles they play do matter.
- The system matters
- Men have rights to what they put into society but not all
- "You deserve your stuff" because you inherited it or you bought it
- Entailed inheritance - oldest son got all, he'd get the estate but can't sell or break it up. You become the steward of land. You run it, not really yours
- The first son got the estate
- The second son would go into priesthood
- The third son would be in the military

Americans are just inherently for Revolution and shouldn't be looked upon for example. We come from Revolution and therefore would be all for it.

Responses to Burke
"A Vindication of the Rights of Men" - Wollstonecraft's response
- 1st published response to Burke
Argument
- his rhetoric - emotional and manipulative
- Burke's argument serves those currently in power, while ignoring the vast majority
- Birthrights - not enslavement
     - Religious, liberty, and civil
- God/Nature/Reason
- Current system is all about property
     - warps nobility
     - manners vs morals

Rhetoric
- Righteousness
- It's a Robin Hood-esque ideal
- Compassionate
- False humility
- Slavery happened in the past and must therefore continue?

Paine- "The Rights of Man" - this was the most famous response to Burke.

Argument
- No divine right, equality of persons
- Revolution is against the system, not the monarch (Can you separate the two?)
     - authority of knowledge vs authority of power to do something
- The person, corruptions, and systems are one and the same?
- No dead hand - each generation is free to organize its own ways
- "Dead Hand of the past" forcing things to go a certain way
- France was equivalent to liberty during this time period
-However, England decided to join a fight against Liberty