 | Drummond (54)
05/15/2006 | This debate also took place in writing, and can be read in its entirey in a book entitled The Burke/Paine Controversy. Paine was steeped in Enlightenment thinking and believed in the power of reason to shape human affairs, if only education and literacy could be given a fair chance to flourish. Burke was skeptical of the power of reason, and argued the classic conservative view that people and governments ought to employ prejudice in affairs, favoring long held institutions even if their existence doesn't make rational sense to the individual - an ecological conservatism that assumes that structures and traditions have purposes which may not be apparent, but would become painfully obvious in their absense. Burke cites the excesses of the French Revolution to bolster his case. Paine responded by writing Rights of Man. A fascinating exchange that would have been wholly entertaining in person on a stage.
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