The Unvarnished Doctrine

The Unvarnished Doctrine PDF Author: Steven M. Dworetz
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822314707
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
In The Unvarnished Doctrine, Steven M. Dworetz addresses two critical issues in contemporary thinking on the American Revolution—the ideological character of this event, and, more specifically, the relevance of "America’s Philosopher, the Great Mr. Locke," in this experience. Recent interpretations of the American revolution, particularly those of Bailyn and Pocock, have incorporated an understanding of Locke as the moral apologist of unlimited accumulation and the original ideological crusader for the "spirit of capitalism," a view based largely on the work of theorists Leo Strauss and C. B. Macpherson. Drawing on an examination of sermons and tracts of the New England clergy, Dworetz argues that the colonists themselves did not hold this conception of Locke. Moreover, these ministers found an affinity with the principles of Locke’s theistic liberalism and derived a moral justification for revolution from those principles. The connection between Locke and colonial clergy, Dworetz maintains, constitutes a significant, radicalizing force in American revolutionary thought.

The Unvarnished Doctrine

The Unvarnished Doctrine PDF Author: Steven M. Dworetz
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822314707
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
In The Unvarnished Doctrine, Steven M. Dworetz addresses two critical issues in contemporary thinking on the American Revolution—the ideological character of this event, and, more specifically, the relevance of "America’s Philosopher, the Great Mr. Locke," in this experience. Recent interpretations of the American revolution, particularly those of Bailyn and Pocock, have incorporated an understanding of Locke as the moral apologist of unlimited accumulation and the original ideological crusader for the "spirit of capitalism," a view based largely on the work of theorists Leo Strauss and C. B. Macpherson. Drawing on an examination of sermons and tracts of the New England clergy, Dworetz argues that the colonists themselves did not hold this conception of Locke. Moreover, these ministers found an affinity with the principles of Locke’s theistic liberalism and derived a moral justification for revolution from those principles. The connection between Locke and colonial clergy, Dworetz maintains, constitutes a significant, radicalizing force in American revolutionary thought.

Natural Rights and the New Republicanism

Natural Rights and the New Republicanism PDF Author: Michael Zuckert
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400821525
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 418

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Book Description
In Natural Rights and the New Republicanism, Michael Zuckert proposes a new view of the political philosophy that lay behind the founding of the United States. In a book that will interest political scientists, historians, and philosophers, Zuckert looks at the Whig or opposition tradition as it developed in England. He argues that there were, in fact, three opposition traditions: Protestant, Grotian, and Lockean. Before the English Civil War the opposition was inspired by the effort to find the "one true Protestant politics--an effort that was seen to be a failure by the end of the Interregnum period. The Restoration saw the emergence of the Whigs, who sought a way to ground politics free from the sectarian theological-scriptural conflicts of the previous period. The Whigs were particularly influenced by the Dutch natural law philosopher Hugo Grotius. However, as Zuckert shows, by the mid-eighteenth century John Locke had replaced Grotius as the philosopher of the Whigs. Zuckert's analysis concludes with a penetrating examination of John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, the English "Cato," who, he argues, brought together Lockean political philosophy and pre-existing Whig political science into a new and powerful synthesis. Although it has been misleadingly presented as a separate "classical republican" tradition in recent scholarly discussions, it is this "new republicanism" that served as the philosophical point of departure for the founders of the American republic.

The Bible in the Public Square

The Bible in the Public Square PDF Author: Mark A. Chancey
Publisher: Society of Biblical Lit
ISBN: 1589839838
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Explore perceptions and interpretations of scripture in American politics, identity, popular culture, and public education Essays from the perspectives of American history, the history of ideas, film studies, visual studies, cultural studies, education, and church-state studies provide essential research for those interested in the intersection of the Bible and American culture. The contributors are Yaakov Ariel, Jacques Berlinerblau, Mark A. Chancey, Rubén Dupertuis, John Fea, Shalom Goldman, Charles C. Haynes, Carol Meyers, Eric M. Meyers, David Morgan, Adele Reinhartz, and David W. Stowe. Features: Ten essays and an introduction present research from professors of biblical studies, Judaism, English, and history Articles relevant to scholars, students, and the general public Analysis of the tensions in American society regarding the Bible and its role in public life.

The Politics of Liberty in England and Revolutionary America

The Politics of Liberty in England and Revolutionary America PDF Author: Lee Ward
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107320445
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 478

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Book Description
This study locates the philosophical origins of the Anglo-American political and constitutional tradition in the philosophical, theological, and political controversies in seventeenth-century England. By examining the quarrel it identifies the source of modern liberal, republican and conservative ideas about natural rights and government in the seminal works of the Exclusion Whigs Locke, Sidney, and Tyrrell and their philosophical forebears Hobbes, Grotius, Spinoza, and Pufendorf. This study illuminates how these first Whigs and their diverse eighteenth-century intellectual heirs such as Bolingbroke, Montesquieu, Hume, Blackstone, Otis, Jefferson, Burke, and Paine contributed to the formation of Anglo-American political and constitutional theory in the crucial period from the Glorious Revolution through to the American Revolution and the creation of a distinctly American understanding of rights and government in the first state constitutions.

The Reception of Locke's Politics Vol 1

The Reception of Locke's Politics Vol 1 PDF Author: Mark Goldie
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040247059
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 443

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Book Description
Locke has iconic status as the "founder of Western liberalism", yet his legacy is contested by both conservatives and social democrats. These volumes contain over 60 important texts, with scholarly annotation and explanatory headnotes, that debate Locke's political ideas.

The Lockean Theory of Rights

The Lockean Theory of Rights PDF Author: A. John Simmons
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691221316
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 399

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Book Description
John Locke's political theory has been the subject of many detailed treatments by philosophers and political scientists. But The Lockean Theory of Rights is the first systematic, full-length study of Locke's theory of rights and of its potential for making genuine contributions to contemporary debates about rights and their place in political philosophy. Given that the rights of persons are the central moral concept at work in Locke's and Lockean political philosophy, such a study is long overdue.

A Theory of Liberty

A Theory of Liberty PDF Author: H. N. Hirsch
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000706524
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
First published in 1992. A Theory of Liberty seeks to change the way we think about the American constitution. The focus of the book is the legal status of minority groups in the United States a topic at the top of the current political agenda. Arguing that minority rights were vitally important to the founding fathers, H. N. Hirsch presents an original and provocative look at issues such as affirmative action, abortion, and the rights of children, lesbians and gay men, mental patients, and the physically disabled. In an analysis which blends history, philosophy, law, and social science, Hirsch attacks both liberals who hide from history and conservatives who push for "original intent." He argues that we can remain faithful to the most basic intent of the founding fathers without losing our ability to reinterpret the Constitution against the backdrop of contemporary social "facts." Hirsch exposes the errors and hypocrisy of the current Supreme Court majority, and argues that the Constitution’s liberty can and should be interpreted to protect the rights of minority groups. Timely and controversial, this title offers a challenging look at some of America’s most basic ideological commitments, and will appeal to anyone concerned with the current state of American law or the treatment of minority groups.

A Preface to American Political Theory

A Preface to American Political Theory PDF Author: Donald S. Lutz
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700605460
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Donald Lutz begins A Preface to American Political Theory by explaining what the book doesn't do. It doesn't begin with a panegyric to the American founding. It doesn't answer the following questions: "What are the basic principles in the U.S. Constitution? What were the intentions of the founders with respect to (fill in your own topic)? What is the meaning of pluralism, or separation of powers, or democracy, or (fill in your own concept)?" In short, it doesn't provide an overview of the content, development, or major conclusions of American political theory. What it does do is provide "a pre-theoretical analysis of how to go about studying questions like the ones above-how to conceptualize the project, how to proceed in looking for answers, how to avoid the logical traps peculiar to the study of American political theory." Lutz sets out to emancipate American political theorists from empiricism and inappropriate European theories and methadologies. The end result is to establish the foundation for the systematic study of American behavior, institutions, and ideas; to provide a general introduction to the study of American political theory; and to illustrate how textual analysis, history, empirical research, and analytic philosophy are all part of the enterprise. Designed for students and scholars in all disciplines, including political science, history, and legal studies, A Preface to American Political Theory doesn't provide answers to central continuing issues in American political theory. Rather, it provides an effective, sophisticated entree into the study of American political theory. Readers will be armed with the intellectual tools to engage in systematic study and makes them aware of the pitfalls they will inevitably encounter.

History of Political Theory: An Introduction

History of Political Theory: An Introduction PDF Author: George Klosko
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019969544X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 583

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Book Description
History of Political Theory: An Introduction is an engaging introduction to the main figures in the history of Western Political Theory and their most important works. The second volume traces the origin and development of liberal political theory, and so the foundations for contemporary views.

Political Theory and Practice

Political Theory and Practice PDF Author: Wendell John Coats
Publisher: Susquehanna University Press
ISBN: 9781575910758
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
The essays in this monograph address the relation of political theorizing to political practice and action collected in over two decades of teaching the canonical history of Western political theory. The issues were selected not on some deductive or speculative basis, but for the light they may shed on the political theory.