Thomas Paine's influential 1791 philosophical work argues against hereditary government and defends the principles of natural rights and republican democracy. Written as a response to Edmund Burke's criticism of the French Revolution, this English political treatise helped shape modern democratic thought.
Among the incivilities by which nations or individuals provoke and irritate each other, Mr. Burke's pamphlet on the French Revolution is an extraordinary instance. Neither the People of France, nor the National Assembly, were troubling themselves about the affairs of England, or the English Parliament; and that Mr. Burke should commence an unprovoked attack upon them, both in Parliament and in public, is a conduct that cannot be pardoned on the score of manners, nor justified on that of policy. There is scarcely an epithet of abuse to be found in the English language, with which Mr. Burke has not loaded the French Nation and the National Assembly. Everything which rancour, prejudice, ignorance or knowledge could suggest, is poured forth in the copious fury of near four hundred pages. In the strain and on the plan Mr. Burke was writing, he might have written on to as many thousands. When …Continue reading →
A radical English-American writer and philosopher (1737-1809) whose fiery pamphlet "Common Sense" ignited the American Revolution by convincing colonists that independence from Britain was both necessary and achievable. His passionate, accessible prose transformed political thought and helped birth a nation founded on democratic ideals and individual rights. All works by Thomas Paine →
Browse all Philosophy · 17th-18th C works