Edmund Burke

Few thinkers have provoked such violently opposing reactions as Edmund Burke. A giant of eighteenth-century political and intellectual life, Burke has been praised as a prophet who spied the terror latent in revolutionary or democratic ideologies, and condemned as defender of social hierarchy and outmoded political institutions.

Ross Carroll tempers these judgments by situating Burke’s arguments in relation to the political controversies of his day. Burke’s writings must be understood as rhetorically brilliant exercises in political persuasion aimed less at defending abstract truths than at warning his contemporaries about the corrosive forces – ideological, social, and political – that threatened their society. Drawing on Burke’s enormous corpus, Carroll presents a nuanced portrait of Burke as, above all, a diagnostician of political misrule, whether domestic, foreign, or imperial. Burke’s lasting value, Carroll argues, derives less from the content of his specific positions than from the difficult questions he forces us to ask of ourselves.

This engaging and illuminating account of Burke’s work is a vital reference for students and scholars of history, philosophy, and political thought.

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Introduction

1 The Foundations of Society
2 Representation and Political Association
3 Political Reform and Constitutional Change
4 Freedom and Revolution
5 Conquest and Colonisation
6 Corporate Tyranny and Imperial Responsibility

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index

"This is a deft and exciting book – the best short scholarly account of Burke, written with clarity and authority. Burke remains one of the few great philosopher-statesmen of modern history, and Ross Carroll offers an original, compelling, and judicious analysis of his thought."
Richard Bourke, University of Cambridge

"Ross Carroll has written a nuanced and learned study of Burke�s intellectual and political life, which is the best introduction to Burke�s political theory and the starting point for any student interested in his politics."
Max Skjönsberg, The Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education, University of Florida

�The best short introduction to Burke�s political thought.�
lawliberty.org

�A remarkable introduction to [Burke's] ideas - synthetic, clear and pedagogical.�
Booksletter

"This fascinating and eminently readable book should help to reclaim Ireland's foremost historical political thinker for a wider audience."
Irish Political Studies Ross Carroll is Assistant Professor of Politics at Dublin City University.