Edmund Burke

Burke is the author of the volume and he is very much present in this inquiry. Burke claims modesty and humility in this enterprise, fully acknowledging he may not get all the details right, yet he is significantly confident that his core theories are correct and are not in need of alteration. He believes science and philosophical inquiries are necessary to advance civilization forward, and that the sometimes "stagnant waters" of science should also be troubled from time to time, and that is what he compares the inquiry in this volume to.

Burke is clear and methodical in his reasoning, presenting most every assumption in a separate section, and then following up his assumption with some sort of proof. His variety of proofs include: an example from classic literature, such as passages from Virgil's poetry or Milton's Paradise Lost; anecdotal evidence, as when Burke hears of a...