The Political Economy of Edmund Burke: The Role of Property in His Thought

In Edmund Burke: A Bibliography of Secondary Studies to 1982 Clara Gandy and Peter Stanlis write, "One of the large unanswered questions is how Burke's economic theory is related to his political theory, and whether they are complementary or contradictory." Canavan is the first to offer a book-length treatment of this question, and in so doing, he places the strength of his argument largely on primary sources rather than a patchwork of previous interpretations. Canavan aims to show that Burke's own emphasis was no on capitalistic laissez-fair economics, as has been assumen, but that his goals were primarily political and cultural. Namely, Burke sought the preservation and development of an aristocratic and Christian civilization supported economically by a leading class of landed property owners. 
This study projects a new profile of Burke which challenges C.B. Macpherson's sketch of him as a bourgeois capitalist, or, as depicted by J.B. Plumb and Frank O'Gorman, as a hired philsopher of the Whig Oligarchy. Nor does Canavan's study present the philosopher as one who would "declare war on the poor," as Gertrude Himmelfarb charged in her The Idea of Poverty. Burke emerges from Canavan's treatment as a Whiug who admired paternalistic government by the rich and virtuous whom he felt would govern as trustees for the benefit of the whole people. Burke did not support the notion that property by monopolized by any one class in society, but wanted the wealthy to empower intermediary institutions which would hold in check the control of the expansive state, whether that meant the Crown in Britain or the revolutionary state in France.

Business & Money

Canavan, Francis

Economics

Fordham University Press

The "pluralist game," the way in which we attempt to resolve the problems arising out of our pluralism through the political and judicial processes, necessarily engages the citizens of our society. This book brings together 14 essays from a leading Catholic political theorist to address the central issue of American theological, political, and social thought: the relationship between religion, morals, law, and public policy in a pluralistic liberal society.

The Pluralist Game

Politics & Social Sciences

Sociology

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Burke has endured as the permanent manual of political wisdom without which statesmen are as sailors on an uncharted sea.
— Harold Laski
Originally published by Oxford University Press in the 1890s, the famed Payne edition of Select Works of Burke is universally revered by students of English history and political thought. Volume 1 contains Burke's brilliant defense of the American colonists' complaints of British policy, including "Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents" (1770), "Speech on American Taxation" (1774), and "Speech on Conciliation" (1775). Volume 2 consists of Burke's renowned Reflections on the Revolution in France. Volume 3 presents Burke's Four Letters on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of France--generally styled Letters on a Regicide Peace (1795–1796). The Letters, Payne believed, deserve to "rank even before [Burke's] Reflections, and to be called the writer's masterpiece." Faithfully reproduced in each volume are E. J. Payne's notes and introductory essays. Francis Canavan, one of the great Burke scholars of the twentieth century, has added forewords and a biographical note on Payne. In the companion volume, Miscellaneous Writings, Canavan has collected seven of Burke's major contributions to English political thinking on representation in Parliament, on economics, on the political oppression of the peoples of India and Ireland, and on the enslavement of African blacks. The volume concludes with a select bibliography on Edmund Burke. The volumes complement the Liberty Fund editions of Burke's A Vindication of Natural Society, edited by Frank N. Pagano, and Further Reflections on the Revolution in France, edited by Daniel E. Ritchie.
Francis Canavan (1917-2009) was Professor of Political Science at Fordham University from 1966 until his retirement in 1988.
Select Works of Edmund Burke: Volume I Select Works of Edmund Burke: Volume II Select Works of Edmund Burke: Volume III

Select Works of Edmund Burke

BURKE, EDMUND

Payne, Edward John

Literature & Fiction

Liberty Fund

Freedom of Expression: Purpose As Limit

Constitutional Law

Carolina Academic Pr

Edmund Burke: Precription and Providence (Studies in Statesmanship)

Carolina Academic Press

Even those who disagree with some of Canavan's conclusions...will find his essays lucid and refreshing, if only as a clarification of the 'other side'. And for those who agree with him, these essays will...produce a great sigh of relief: someone has put into clear and pleasing prose many of their own appeals to the truth. They can take comfort, in the face of galloping liberalism in our world and in our church, that there is an eminently reasonably voice pleading their case. Francis Canavan, S.J., is Professor Emeritus at Fordham University, where he taught political science for 22 years (1966-1988), and an Editor of the "Human Life Review". Father Canavan is also the regular "Commentary" columnist for the newsletter "catholic eye", in which the 60 essays in this book first appeared.

Pins in the Liberal Balloon

Religion & Spirituality

National Committee of Catholic Laymen

Fun is Not Enough: The Complete Catholic Eye Columns

Francis Canavan, S.J., was a professor of political science, a leading Edmund Burke scholar, and an essayist whose thoughts on faith, politics, and culture earned him accolades from many prominent Catholic minds of his time, including Robert P. George, George Weigel, Richard John Neuhaus, and Gerard V. Bradley.But Canavan's appeal extended well beyond the intelligentsia. For more than twenty-five years, he contributed to the catholic eye newsletter, making his wisdom accessible to the ordinary person in the pew. Fun Is Not Enough collects all the prophetic insights catholic eye readers loved, so that Canavan may inspire a new generation with his contributions to contemporary debates on religious and political liberty, the dignity of human life, and the nature of marriage.

En Route Books and Media

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