Philosophy Paper
It is often said that our only constant is change. Things are always changing and in flux. This semester we have read two theorists of change. John Locke outlined a radical liberal vision of individual rights and rights of rebellion that were perhaps most forcefully manifested in the American and French revolutions (momentous events that marked tremendous political and philosophical changes in the modern world). Edmund Burke warned against the dangers of rapid or radical change and advocated measured pragmatism while embracing the wisdom of tradition. In this essay, I’d like you to compare and contrast these two thinkers and their reflections on change. More specifically, how does John Locke’s vision of individual rights, rights of rebellion, and the right to appropriate nature with our labor square with Edmund Burke’s reaction to the revolutionary upheavals in 18thcentury France, his opinions on the American Revolution, his attitude towards tradition, common sense, and his wariness of philosophical systems? In your essays, be sure to show an understanding of John Locke’s liberalism and Edmund Burke’s conservatism. Where possible, distinguish their brand of liberalism and conservatism not only from each other but also from contemporary iterations of these paradigmatic political outlooks.

BOOKS:

The Portable Edmund Burke?

Issac Kramnick

New York: Penguin Books, 1999

ISBN-10: 0140267603

Second Treatise of Government

John Locke

Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.,1980

ISBN# 978-0-915144-86-0