Edmund Burke & Alexis de Tocqueville

Group I Matthew Kern, Matthew Trout, Brittany Murphy,

Darren Lalloo Tyler Hampton

Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

•Graduated from Trinity College located in Dublin in 1748• he collaborated with two friends on

a periodical paper that discussed controversial topics of the time, specifically politics

•Began Political Career in 1765 in which he strove for a wiser treatment of the American colonies• although he also supported the

Declaratory Act, asserting Britain's constitutional right to tax the colonists.

•Feared political reform beyond limitations on the power of the crown• made him the spokesman of

European conservatives

Burke’s Accomplishments

•Was a leader of the Whig party

•Considered the founder of modern conservatism

•Founded Dublin’s Trinity College Debating Club, which would later become the oldest undergrad society in the world

•Defended the French monarchy and man’s right to maintain prejudices (customs) during the French Revolution

Burke’s Major Works•Vindication of Natural Society (1756)

Satirical writing that attacked the political rationalism and religious skepticism of Henry St. John

•Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime & Beautiful (1757)

was a study of aesthetic values of life •Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770)

Became the first political philosopher to argue the value of political parties.

•Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

The Context of Burke

•Lived in Britain in a time after the English Civil War and Glorious Revolution.

•Constant political tensions between England and France.

•His Irish background made him sympathetic towards Catholicism

•Despite conservative leanings, was a product of the Enlightenment.

Reflections on the Revolution in France

“Many of our men of speculation, instead of exploding general prejudices (traditions), employ their sagacity to discover the latent wisdom which prevails in them.”

“It is our pride to know, that man is by his constitution a religious animal; that atheism is against, not only our reason, but our instincts.”

“By a slow,, but well-sustained progress the effect of each step is watched… We compensate, we reconcile, we balance.”

“The improvements of the National Assembly are superficial, their errors fundamental.”

The Dissection of Burke’s Intent

•Letter was a response to French aristocrat Charles-Jean-François Depont.

•Focused on the practicality of the way the government functions for its people rather than its metaphysical value; how do we facilitate getting food, rather than our right to having food and medicine.

•Burke used this letter as a vehicle for trying to keep the British from imitating The French.

•Burkes protestant background, philosophical, historical knowledge and extreme stake in the Whig party provided his hermeneutical lenses on his view of the revolution.

•Burke eloquently advocates for the dangers that lie in democracy.

•Brings to light the negative effects of an unchecked government system.

Film Clip: A Tale of Two Cities (1958)

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859)

•French politician and writer• He was prominent in politics,

particularly just before and just after the Revolution of 1848

•1831, went on a government mission to the United States to study the penal system • Which resulted in the writing of

“Democracy in America”, one of the classics of political literature

•Deepest commitment was to human freedom • Believed that political democracy and

social equality would, inevitably, replace the aristocratic institutions of Europe

•Analyzed the American effort to have both liberty and equality• Believed that Europe could learn from

American’s by analyzing their successes and failures

Tocqueville’s Accomplishments•Became deputy of the Manche department (region) of France, which he maintained for 21 years

•Received permission, from the then ruling July Monarchy, to study prison reforms in America, spending nine months in the country

•Elected as a member of the Constituent Academy which helped draft the new constitution of the Second Republic

Tocqueville’s Major Works

•De la démocratie en Amérique (Democracy in America 1835–40)Written about observations made in 1831 during a government mission to the United States to study the penal system

•L'Ancien Régime et la révolution (The Old Regime and Revolution 1856)

analyzes French society before the French Revolution and examines the causes and forces that caused the Revolution

The Context of Tocqueville•Was a French politician during pivotal Moments in French political history; the Second Republic and Second Empire

•Left politics during the rise of the SecondFrench Empire where Louis Napoleon Bonaparte II lead a coup after losing an election.

•Gave the perspective of an outsider to the American way of life at the time.

•This outside perspective allowed deeperCritical analysis of the situation.

Democracy in America•“They (Americans) have been allowed by their circumstances, their origin, their intelligence, and especially by their moral feeling, to establish and maintain the sovereignty of the people.”

•“In America, religion is perhaps less powerful than it has been at certain periods… but it’s influence is more lasting.”

•“The Americans have not required to extract their philosophical methods from books; they have found it in themselves.”

•“The singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply- to the superiority of their women.”

The Subtext of Tocqueville•Analyzes and describes the effects of social equality from a practical standpoint.

•Tocqueville plays devils advocate to industrialization, public opinion, majority rule and democratic leadership

•Tocqueville deviates from Burke; believes that a society can function on the basis of popular liberty versus Burke’s implications of the people possessing too much power in society.

•Seeks to investigate as the central concern the balance of individual freedom, materialism and conformity in relation to an egalitarian order.

•Solution to these problems is attempted to be resolved with a system of interest groups diffusing power while keeping the individuals in mind.

Themes and Ideas

•When does one become just to Act against their government? Does deep dissatisfaction lend itself to conservatism, or even liberalism for that matter?

•Does conservatism as it was once Known truly exist anymore?

•What does Tocqueville’s analysis Say about the notion of nations Which are critical of the U.S.?

Questions for Discussion• Now that classical conservatism and liberalism have both been

seen, what merits does one see to either of these systems? Is there any failing or something Burke or Tocqueville neglect?

• How have classical conservatism and liberalism changed since the conception of these ideas? Is there merit to their evolution/devolution? Should these early ideals be found again?

• Tocqueville is someone who was an outsider to the United States and provided a poignant analysis of the society of the time. Does it take someone from the outside to really see the inner workings, and what would some possibly say about the condition of today’s society, if it is possible to ponder such a thing?

Sources Cited• Knoebel, Edgar E. "Edmund Burke: "Reflections on the Revolution in France", Alexis

De Tocqueville, "Democracy in America"" The Modern World. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988. Print.

• arris, Ian, "Edmund Burke", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2011/entries/burke/>.

• "Tocqueville, Alexis de." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 1968. Retrieved October 17, 2011 from Encyclopedia.com: <http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3045001265.html>