Edmund Burke’s famous essay, “Reflections on the Revolution in France,” has expressed great disappointment and disapproval of the French Revolution. Burke has constantly attacked French revolutionaries who he claimed bypassed France’s ancestors and founding fathers to construct a new society from scratch. This paper will address three main points of the assigned section which are: disregard of old system in France, reasons against the Enlightenment and the sophists it has created. Lastly, opposition towards the emergence of ‘reason’. Burke, arguably a moral traditionalist, embodies the belief that traditions are heavily valued due to their mandatory observation which is necessary for peaceful living and freedom from arbitrary coercion in France. Which in turn, negatively impacted how he viewed Enlightenment and the
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Before there was reason, he stated that there was “a system of opinion and sentiment [that] had its origin in the ancient chivalry, which was successful and withstood many generations (Burke, 67). Earlier within the book, as a class, it was noted that Burke argued that ‘reason’ alone is not an acceptable alternative for the power of the institution. This was supported by the statement that stated, “...reason which banishes the affections (for the state and institution) is incapable of filling their place (Burke, 51). With the introduction of ‘reason’ opinions and emotions towards the state and/or country, vanished, and hatred and anger arose stirring ideas of taking power by force and for citizens to fight against the monarch. Burke further argues, that when people engage in ‘reason’, it strips away the dignity and mystery that helps give these institutions their power. The beginning, again of reason, can be traced back to the divergence of traditional French values and ways of life, and to the Enlightenment which is responsible for embracing
Before there was reason, he stated that there was “a system of opinion and sentiment [that] had its origin in the ancient chivalry, which was successful and withstood many generations (Burke, 67). Earlier within the book, as a class, it was noted that Burke argued that ‘reason’ alone is not an acceptable alternative for the power of the institution. This was supported by the statement that stated, “...reason which banishes the affections (for the state and institution) is incapable of filling their place (Burke, 51). With the introduction of ‘reason’ opinions and emotions towards the state and/or country, vanished, and hatred and anger arose stirring ideas of taking power by force and for citizens to fight against the monarch. Burke further argues, that when people engage in ‘reason’, it strips away the dignity and mystery that helps give these institutions their power. The beginning, again of reason, can be traced back to the divergence of traditional French values and ways of life, and to the Enlightenment which is responsible for embracing