REVIEWSrnIn the Fullnessrnof Timernby Peter f. StanlisrnThe Metaphysics of Edmund Burkernby Joseph L. Pappin lUrnNew York: Fordham University Press;rn225 pp., $30.00rnPerhaps the best way to understandrnand appreciate Joseph Pappin’srnunique achievement is to consider thisrnfine book in the hght of previous scholarshiprnthat attempts to ascertain thernrehgious and moral sources and foundationsrnof Edmund Burke’s political philosophy.rnJohn Morlev, the chief Victorianrnauthority on Burke and the source ofrnall subsequent empiricist, utilitarian, andrnpositivist interpretations of his politics,rnon one occasion candidly admitted thatrnhis strictly secular and rationalist approachrnto Burke’s politics could not explainrnthe complex religious or metaphysicalrnorigins or dimensions of Burke’srnthought:rnIn Burke’s character . . . [and] atrnthe bottom of all his thoughtsrnabout communities and governmentsrnthere lay a certain mysticism.rn. . . To him there actuallyrnwas an element of mystery in therncohesion of men in societies, inrnpolitical obedience, in the sanctityrnof contract; in all that fabric of lawrnand charter and obligation,rnwhether written or unwritten,rnwhich is the sheltering bulwarkrnbetween civilization and barbarism.rnWhen reason and historyrnhad contributed all that theyrncould to the explanation, itrnseemed to him as if the vital force,rnthe secret of organization, thernbinding framework, must stillrncome from the impenetrablernregions beyond reasoning andrnbeyond history.rnReference to the abstract term “mysticism”rnwas as close as Morley ever camernto an awareness of nature and intellectualrntradition in the metaphysical premisesrnof Burke’s political philosophy. In twornbooks on Burke, Morley never consideredrnhis metaphysics and never evenrnmentioned moral natural law.rnTo this day contemporary empiricistsrn—in their positivist, utilitarian,rnsecular, and rationalist approach—arernno closer than Morley to an adequaternexplanation of Burke’s political philosophy.rnMany of them simply ignorernBurke’s religion or deny that it has any relationshiprnto his politics or dismiss hisrnreferences to God as “the one great Master,rnAuthor, and Founder of society” asrnidle Enlightenment jargon, thereby treatingrnall references to transcendental realityrnas meaningless rhetoric. Among therngreat merits of Pappin’s book is that hernis acutely aware of the limitations, as wellrnas the strengths, of the Moriey traditionrnof Burke studies, and he takes those limitationsrnfullv into account. Whereas thernempiricists generally reduce Burke to arnpartisan Whig politician, denying thatrnhe had a political philosophy because hernnever wrote a systematic treatise in politicalrntheory, Pappin takes seriouslvrnBurke’s definition of the statesman asrn”the philosopher in action” and does notrndismiss him as merely a political activist.rnBefore a book like Pappin’s could bernwritten, certain preliminary studies ofrnBurke’s political philosophy were necessary.rnThe late Ross J.S. Hoffman, in hisrnant:hology Burfe’s Politics (1949), notedrnin passing that the ancient tradition ofrnmoral natural law was a vital element inrnBurke’s political philosophy. A full accountingrnof this cardinal principle, whichrnprovided the moral basis of Burke’s legalrnand political theory, was provided in myrnEdmund Burke and the Natural Lawrn(1958). Since then several notable booksrnhave further extended the thesis, thernmost important of which was FrancisrnCanavan’s The Political Reason of EdmundrnBurke (1960). hi an appendix tornthat study, “Burke’s College Study ofrnPhilosophy,” Canavan ansyvered thernquestion first raised by Barker; how Burkerncame to know and to use the theory ofrnSt. Thomas. He examined “the list ofrnauthors who formed Burke’s collegerncourse in philosophy” at Trinity College,rnDublin, and found that it included sixrntextbooks that “represent in varying degreesrnthe scholastic tradition of medievalrnChristian Aristotclianism.” Canavanrnfound “the sources of Burke’s Thomism’rnin his college education.”rnAnother giant step toward understandingrnBurke’s metaphysics was takenrnby Canavan in Edmund Burke: Prescriptionrnand Providence (1987), a study ofrnBurke’s extensive reading of theology.rnCanavan found that Burke was thoroughlyrnimbued with the Christianrnworldview inherited from centuries past,rnparticularly in the theology of the AnglicanrnChurch during the 17th century.rnI le observed:rnThose aspects of the worldviewrnthat came down from the MiddlernAges and were more relevant tornBurke’s political thought werernmetaphysical in nature. . . . Theyrnconcerned the fundamental structurernof reality. Prior to the distinctivernChristian beliefs about sinrnand redemption, but assumed byrnthem, was a particular conceptionrnof the world as created. This conception,rnwith its implications, furnishedrnthe basic premises ofrnBurke’s understanding of man andrnsociety.rnCanavan limited his study of Burke’srnChristian worldview to its practical manifestationrnin legal prescription and to thernprovidential notion of history in Burke’srnpolitical philosophy. He was well awarernthat the specific metaphysical foundationsrnof Burke’s politics remained to bernascertained.rnNow, in the fullness of time, Pappinrnhas crowned the work of all of his predecessorsrnin the search for the origins andrnfoundations of Burke’s political philosophyrnby describing his metaphysics. Thernvery titles of his six chapters clarify thernstructural unity of his study and identifyrnthe vital subjects covered: “Metaphysicsrnand Politics”; “The Problem of a BurkeanrnMetaphysics”; “The Case for Burke’srnMetaphysics”; “The Philosophy of Codrnand I luman Nature”; “The MetaphysicalrnElements of Teleology and NaturalrnLaw”; and “Concluding Reflections:rnMetaphysical Nihilism and Radical Individualism.”rnThe final chapter shouldrnbe of great interest to anyone concernedrnwith the nihilist threat to civilization inrnthe 20th century. Pappin also providesrnan excellent bibliography of primary, secondary,rnand general sources. The authorrnand subject index make it a most usefulrn36/CHRONICLESrnrnrn