Burke and Condorcet are two men born in the same era. While the two great philosophers had something in common, they differ a lot in the sense of their political views and many other things. In this essay, similarities and differences of the two men in terms of their actions will be analyzed. The ideas and circumstances of the two men influenced greatly on their actions. The conservative Burke who thought that human beings were not perfectible contrasted significantly with the progressive Condorcet who thought the opposite. Burke was raised in a family with a strong religious background where he and his mother were close in relationship. This led to his compassion towards the Irish Catholics who had limited human rights at that time. He advocated …show more content…
If Burke mainly aimed to relieve oppression of the government on people, Condorcet mainly aimed to seek individual freedom. Due to the social atmosphere of their era when people rose against dictatorship and tyrannies, their basic aim was to set up a democratic government which granted people of basic human rights and freedom. In order to achieve this, Burke, as a member of British Parliament, constantly urged the Parliament to limit their powers. For instance, he would propose to abandon the tax on tea. Condorcet had an intention of applying universal suffrage which led to his drafting of a plan to establish a new constitution, which was clearly a more aggressive action comparing with Burke?s. In general, these two man were of great historical significance, especially their philosophies passed on to today. From their philosophies, people truly realize that on social and political issues, while being optimistic about the future, we also need to be realistic. Their works and ideas served as ancestors of two major political philosophies ? conservatism and liberalism. They thus paved the way for many conservative and many liberal politicians, and the history has proved that their complementary ideas and thoughts are both essential for the politicians