Oppermann:Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke (1730-1797) was the most influential political thinker in 18th century Britain. No one else has left such a deep mark on the political culture of the country. A committed Whig, he was not an abstract philosopher but a powerful orator in Parliament. Whether as a defender of the rights of Parliament and the colonists in America or as a critic of the French Revolution, he was always guided by the image of the statesman as a 'philosopher in action.' Matthias Oppermann outlines Burke's life in the historical context of his time and explains his political philosophy against this backdrop. Starting from the ongoing change in the reception of Burke, Oppermann explores the question of what lessons can still be drawn today from the work of this forerunner of moderate liberalism.