# Edmund Burke, Intellectuals, and the French Revolution, Part 5

**URL:** <https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/excursions/edmund-burke-intellectuals-and-the-french-revolution-part-5>

**By** George H. Smith

**Published:** November 23, 2016

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George H. Smith explains why Edmund Burke opposed abstract rights and why James Mackintosh defended them.

[Originally published in essay form on April 11, 2014.](https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/edmund-burke-intellectuals-french-revolution-part-5)

_Narrated by Daniel Hyland._