Eighteenth-century man of letters, politician, and member of Parliament (MP), Edmund Burke is usually regarded as the father of modern political conservatism and an advocate for what has become party politics. His philosophy is revealed not in a series of systematic treatments of philosophical issues but rather in an array of speeches, letters, books, and pamphlets dealing with specific political and social issues of his day, including taxation of the American colonies, the treatment of Ireland, the responsibility of the British Parliament toward India, and the French Revolution. He is variously heralded as a champion of liberty, party politics, limited government, tradition, prescription, and natural law.

Burke was born on 12 January 1729 in Dublin, Ireland Son of a convert to Protestantism, Richard Burke, an attorney of the Irish Court of Exchequer, and Catholic Mary Burke (nee Nagle) of County Cork, Edmund Burke was raised Protestant while his mother remained...