Abstract EN:

At the function of counter-revolutionary ideas, of which it is the first manifesto, and of certain liberal tendencies, the core of Burke's approach cannot be entirely reconciled with either of these doctrines, although they both could lay claim to some of its inheritance. As a matter of fact, Burke draws from a complex background that had to be unravelled. His contribution will best be understood when opposed to social contract doctrines, with their abstract universalism, the links they weave between anarchy and tyranny, and their secularized messianism ; by doing so, we may enlighten why Burke rejects both the eschatology and the contract's underhand temptations to deny the necessity of an independent, arbitrating political power.