Foundations: A Seminar on the Great Books of Political Philosophy – Burke

This was the inaugural meeting of a new reading group where Dr. Christopher Coome, a post-doctoral fellow with the Civil Discourse Project, introduced students to the foundational ideas and philosophies that have shaped modern politics. For this first session, the group explored Edmund Burke’s classic text, Reflections on the Revolution in France, a treatise widely regarded as a seminal work in conservative political philosophy. Dr. Coome led participants through Burke’s eloquent and impassioned critique of the French Revolution, examining his warnings about the dangers of radical change, abstract reasoning divorced from historical context, and the destruction of inherited institutions and traditions. Students analyzed Burke’s defense of gradual reform over revolutionary upheaval, his emphasis on the wisdom embedded in long-standing customs and practices, and his arguments for the importance of social order, religious establishment, and organic political development.