Rights of Man Summary and Analysis

Paine believes that Mr. Burke's pamphlet on the French Revolution is an insult to the people of France, as it is full of lies, bigotry and hatred. He has also maligned Dr. Price, a good man, and the English Revolution Society and the Society for Constitutional Information. Dr. Price argues that the people of England have the right to (a) choose their own governors, (b) cashier them for misconduct, and (c) frame a government for themselves. The people possess these rights as a whole, according to Price, but Burke denies this. Burke's argument is poor, arguing only from past, dead documents of law. He also claims that these preclude the establishment of these rights at any point in the future. This cannot be, for it would commit us to absurd principles. No governing body can bind all...