Edmund Burke: A Conservative Revolt Against Enlightenment Rationalism

The most distinctive feature of enlightenment thought that tries to build a new person and design of the universe is that it brings overconfidence in reason to the fore. It has been thought that the laws on social order and natural reality can be understood in the lead of the reason, thus many problems encountered by humanity will be solved. However, this optimistic thought could not come true as expected, enlightenment has brought many problems and uncertainty. The unfavourable situation arising in connection with the values that the enlightenment thought put forward has become the focus of criticism for many thinkers. One of the thinkers who criticise the conversions the enlightenment created along the lines of conservative thought is Edmund Burke. Burke, opposes the abstract reason thought and cares for the values that humankind put forward in the historical process of humanity. Burke's aim is not to deny the reason, but to show that reason works in the cultural context and axis of values. In this study, Burke's criticism against enlightenment rationalism and thoughts on the changes observed in the social area accordingly will be examined.

Journal

BEYTULHIKME-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY

Year

2025

Volume

15

Issue

1

Pages

49-68

ISSN

1303-8303

DOI

10.29228/beytulhikme.80203

WoS UID

WOS:001467740600003