Rights of Man

Written in part as a theoretical reply to the stodgy conservatism of Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the French Revolution (1790), Paine’s Rights of Man (1791-92) sets forth a manifesto of popular democratic rule in the established tradition of John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In it Paine offers a discussion of the nature of political man and proceeds to encourage the grass-roots revolutionary movements that seek to analyse critically and, where necessary, reform or replace social and political institutions, many of which tend only to repress those whom they were initially designed to serve. Paine’s enthusiasm, courage, and boundless commitment to reason are the intellectual rapiers that strike impressive blows for the defence of freedom and for the self-determination of all persons. His dedication to liberty is not so blind as to endorse reform uncritically.