Edmund Burke, is commonly known as the founding father of conservatism. This is due to his vast influence in the house of commons during the eighteenth century, where he had a huge influence on matters such as the French Revolution, and the American war of independence. Most of Burke’s political principles are based on the christian moral natural law, which is given by God, and he believed that if these laws were to be correctly interpreted by men who are not corrupt, then the right form of reason shall be obtained. Reason was important to Burke as he believed that “through Enlightened eyes, inherited values, institutions, and customs appeared as the very embodiment of ignorance, ‘reason’ as the tool that would liberate man from the ancient fetters of oppression.” (Raeder, 2010, paragraph 13).
The moral natural law also provided Burke with the normative principles whereby he could judge the way in which rulers used their powers to either fulfill or fail to comply with the needs of their civil society, which to Burke is the protection of life, liberty and property. Burke considered this as essential to achieving temporal happiness. Burke unlike other political thinkers, he believed that although the human nature may be selfish, this however calls for an organic state to be to be implemented, as this would create a much more stable society than a planned state, as humans are organic creatures, therefore, and organic state would be better suited to the demands of humans more, as humans evolve and adapt over time, and an organic state can also evolve in order to meet the demands of the people.
Burke believed that within society, it is normal to have inequality, as "all men have equal rights; but not to equal things" (Kirk, 1951, paragraph 24), and within society, equality should never be an aim, as by supporting those who are less fortunate, we are limiting our abilities and hindering our abilities to flourish as a society, which does not fall in line with natural law, as it does not support reverse-evolution. Therefore, Burke supported the existence of private and corporate property, as he believed that individuals should have the liberty to create their own business and ensure that it becomes successful, as we have been given freedom from the natural law to exercise our free will and bear fruit to our labor. Burke believed that the existence of private and corporate businesses in society help maintain freedom within society.
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