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POT 3023 Honors History of Political Thought II Fall 2005 |
Burke
1. Background
a. as political theorist
b. Burke's Irishness
c. Life
d. Politics
i. supports American Revolution
ii. opposes parliamentary reform to increase representation
iii. supports Irish cause against England (Letter to Langrishe)
iv. Opposes French Revolution
v. Condemns Hastings' administration in India
2. Burke's Political Theory
a. Burke's vision: the consecrated state (state as sacred)
b. Burke's conservatism: based on
i. fear
ii. expediency
iii. ecological argument
iv. fairness
v. existential
c. Burke's standards of judgment
i. Burke's Naturalism
(1) customs and traditions as second nature
(2) naturalism in "A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of
the Sublime and Beautiful"
(3) naturalism in Reflections
ii. Burke's practice conception
(1) overview: obligations arise from practice not principle
(2) Burke on prescriptive rights
(3) justification for Burke's practice conception
(a) expediency
(b) naturalism
3. Is Burke consistent?
a. opposition to natural rights and abstract principles
b. at times, implies there are natural rights
i. Hastings speech
ii. Burke and the Irish question
c. contradiction?--how to reconcile?
i. Burke as shifting politician
ii. Burke as consistent: consistently opposes untried solutions
iii. Peter Stanlis: Burke as consistent theorist of natural law
iv. Macpherson: Burke as consistent bourgeois capitalist