柏克珍视个人的自由和权利，强调财产权是一切权利的基础。他否认个人在社会中具有自然权利，强调人只有在社会中才可以享有自由；同时反对天赋人权学说，坚持国家“是一种永世的契约”的观点。国家之所以是一种道德实体，而不是个人的集合，是因为它为个人所享有的社会自由提供保障，人们对其负有道德上的义务。柏克认为，国家本身就是一种目的，它不是个人实现自由的工具，这是保守主义与自由主义在对待国家问题上的一个重要区别。柏克反对法国大革命主要集中在以下几个方面：反对专制主义的出现与激进主义的蔓延，对于纯粹理性指导下的法国大革命原则更是给予激烈的批判。他认为法国大革命中将国家作为手段的原则，极易导致政府权力的无限扩张，进而危及到个人的权利。人们的信仰、行为方式、社会组织、政治制度等内容都属于传统的范畴，传统作为历史的积淀而存在并经历一代又一代人延续下去。真正自然的东西是传统和习俗而不是理性。个人的判断，远远不及人类整体的智慧。柏克尊崇的是英国自由法治的传统。传统在维护社会秩序和国家权力的合法性方面发挥着举足轻重的作用，它在保守主义政治思想中同样占据重要的地位。宪政是在英国政治传统的长期演化中自然成长起来的一种制度设计，也是抗衡国家权力，保护个人自由的理想选择。柏克推崇“光荣革命”后确立的君主立宪制，这是一种关于社会变革与保守的政体制度，它在个人与国家之间确立了界限，国王和议会都被置于法律之下，个人的权利得到了最有效的保障。由于现实总是对政治制度提出新的挑战，柏克并没有拒斥改革，承认变革是不可避免的。他倡导在对传统的继承基础上实行渐进的改革，即在自由与传统中寻求平衡，维持英国现有的政治体制。

Burke valued individual freedom and rights, emphasizing that the property rights are the foundation of all. He denied that an individual has natural right in society；emphasized individuals only have freedom in society. He opposed that human rights are endowed by nature, insisting that the State is an eternal contract. He believed that nation is a moral entity rather than a collection of individuals. It guaranteed freedom for individuals and people have their moral obligation for it. Burke thought that nation is some kinds of destination instead of pathway through which people reach liberty, and this is the main distinction between issues on nations of conservatism and liberalism.Burke’s objections to the French Revolution consist of the objection to the appearance of despotism and the prevalence of radicalism, and what’s more severe objected to is the principle of the French Revolution guided by pure rationalism. He thought that it was the principle of the French Revolution which didn’t take nation as the destination that caused the easy and unlimited expansion of the power of government, thus endangering the rights of individuals. People’s belief, behavior, social organization and political regime could all be categorized as tradition. As the accumulation of history, tradition passes through generation and would go on. It is tradition and custom rather than ration that are truly natural. Individual’s judgment is much less important than human beings’ intelligence. Burke respected the tradition of rule of law in Britain. Tradition plays a vital role in maintaining the order of society and the validity of the nation power, and so it does in composing the conservative political thoughts. Constitutional government is a designed system which has grown up naturally in the long-term evolution of British political tradition, and it is also a good choice for counterbalancing nation power and protecting individual’s freedom. Burke respected constitutional monarchy after the ‘Glorious Revolution’ ,which is a conservative regime about social change and conservation. It set a clear boundary between individuals and nation. Burke advocated asymptotical reform based on tradition, which seeks balance between freedom and tradition, so that the existing British regime could be maintained.