Abstract

O’Gorman proposes a fresh interpretation of Burke by taking seriously the fact that his political thought was articulated as a series of responses to practical political problems and by examining, chronologically, the main political problems that occupied him throughout his career. A chapter is devoted to Burke’s response to each of the following problems: the validity of political parties, the nature of the British Constitution, the imperial problems of America, Ireland, and India, and the challenge of the French Revolution. While granting the importance of moral and religious ideas in Burke’s political thought, O’Gorman argues, against the "new conservatives," that it is neither systematic nor a development and application of the natural law principle. And commentators "who embark upon a voyage of discovery for some ‘key notions’ or ‘fundamental concepts’ fare no better". Indeed we "should emphasize the absence of system in Burke’s political ideas and underline his characteristic lapses into inconsistency".