Your Email:

Subject:

Message:
Entry: An Imaginary Edmund Burke Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/an_imaginary_edmund_burke#27405 Post contents: <i>But the definition of what is or is not “working” can’t be answered without some attention to the questions addressed by political philosophy: what should government do or not do? </i> Mr. Roach, would you not agree that "what works" cannot simply be the ultimate justification for any action? Or that an action cannot be evaluated simply according to a utilitarian calculus, and that there are other considerations (such as those of justice and, as you point out, the function of government and the purpose of society)? Is it correct to say that Burkean prudence does not operate in the absence of these considerations or of law, both natural and positive law, written and unwritten [e.g. custom]? Hence, Burkean prudence is not the same as utilitarian deliberation. Sent at: 2008 10 14