Burke and Paine were both British. They were both prolific writers. Neither one of them was a Tory. On the contrary, they were both Whigs. Each considered himself to be a liberal.
But Paine participated in both the American Revolution and the French Revolution -- and published a work that helped advance each. Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense (1776) famously helped galvanize sentiment for the American Revolution. His Rights of Man (1791), a critique of Burke's views, supported the French Revolution. However, as Levin notes, late in his life, Paine published a strong critique of Christianity titled The Age of Reason (published in three parts in 1794, 1795, 1807). As a result, Protestant preachers at the time denounced him as something like the devil -- the Great Satan, as it were. Basically, Paine was a Deist. To this day, because of the predictable backlash to his critique of Christianity, Paine is usually not remembered by most Americans as one of our Founding Fathers
From a distance Burke had supported the American Revolution, but he did not write anything noteworthy about it. However, he was understandably terrified at the thought of something like the French Revolution occurring in his homeland. So he wrote the pamphlet that is known by the short title as Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). But the full title reveals more about the scope of his concerns: Reflections on the Revolution in France and on the Proceedings of Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event: In a Letter Intended to Have Been Sent to a Gentleman in Paris. As Levin explains, Burke's invoked audience of a gentleman in
In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, I should give Levin credit for working out a fine comparison and contrast of the thought of these two authors. He has written an informed and readable study in the history of ideas. However, as I've indicated, I do not think that he published this book simply to impress us with his scholarship. Instead, he uses his careful historical scholarship to advance movement conservatism in the
Now, the assassination of Julius Caesar was designed to bring about a regime change. It prompted a debate. For example,
THE RIGHT AND LEFT IN AMERICAN POLITICS TODAY
In addition to his scholarly comparison and contrast of the thought of these two authors, Levin makes a claim on our contemporary awareness by suggesting that Burke and Paine somehow represent of the birth of the right and left today. In effect, he proposes that American conservatives today should see Burke as the founding father of movement conservatism and Paine as the founding father of all the ideas that drive American conservatives crazy. In short, the right and the left -- as understood by American conservatives.
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