Thirty-Six More Short Essays, Plus Another, on the Probing Mind of Thomas Jefferson

Thirty-Six More Short Essays, Plus Another, on the Probing Mind of Thomas Jefferson PDF Author: M. Andrew Holowchak
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527546586
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 163

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Book Description
This book is a companion to the author’s previous volume, Thirty-Six Short Essays on the Probing Mind of Thomas Jefferson. It provides the reader with new short essays on Jefferson thoughts on political philosophy and religion and morality. There are, in addition, 10 essays on Jeffersonian historiography, as Jefferson, it is commonly complained, is an exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, task, for any historian. The book is crafted both to entertain—the essays are brisk and lively—and to enlighten. The essays are provocative and critical, and take the reader deep within the recesses of Jefferson’s large mind, while also highlighting that Jefferson is still quite relevant today.

Thirty-Six More Short Essays, Plus Another, on the Probing Mind of Thomas Jefferson

Thirty-Six More Short Essays, Plus Another, on the Probing Mind of Thomas Jefferson PDF Author: M. Andrew Holowchak
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527546586
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 163

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Book Description
This book is a companion to the author’s previous volume, Thirty-Six Short Essays on the Probing Mind of Thomas Jefferson. It provides the reader with new short essays on Jefferson thoughts on political philosophy and religion and morality. There are, in addition, 10 essays on Jeffersonian historiography, as Jefferson, it is commonly complained, is an exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, task, for any historian. The book is crafted both to entertain—the essays are brisk and lively—and to enlighten. The essays are provocative and critical, and take the reader deep within the recesses of Jefferson’s large mind, while also highlighting that Jefferson is still quite relevant today.

Thirty-Six Short Essays on the Probing Mind of Thomas Jefferson

Thirty-Six Short Essays on the Probing Mind of Thomas Jefferson PDF Author: M. Andrew Holowchak
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527543145
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
Thomas Jefferson wrote to his personal physician, Dr. Vine Utley (21 Mar. 1819) that he was wont to read something inspirational “whereupon to ruminate in the intervals of sleep.” His aim was to retire from the night with healthy thoughts to ready him for a peaceful sleep and an eventful next day. Authored by one of the world’s foremost authorities on the mind of Jefferson, this book—comprising 36 short essays on his thoughts on politics, religion and morality, and the arts and sciences, as well as perspectives on today’s Jeffersonian historiography—is to be read in a similar manner. These short essays—light, fresh, and lively, but erudite and provocative—are to be read thus by mavens of Jefferson: one or a few chapters at a time, “whereupon to ruminate.” As such, they are to be savored in the manner of the Fables of Aesop or of Seneca’s Epistles to his disciple Lucilius, although their engaging nature means the reader may find it difficult to put the book down.

Thirty-Six Short Essays on the Probing Mind of Thomas Jefferson

Thirty-Six Short Essays on the Probing Mind of Thomas Jefferson PDF Author: M. Andrew Holowchak
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 9781527541856
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
Thomas Jefferson wrote to his personal physician, Dr. Vine Utley (21 Mar. 1819) that he was wont to read something inspirational â oewhereupon to ruminate in the intervals of sleep.â His aim was to retire from the night with healthy thoughts to ready him for a peaceful sleep and an eventful next day. Authored by one of the worldâ (TM)s foremost authorities on the mind of Jefferson, this bookâ "comprising 36 short essays on his thoughts on politics, religion and morality, and the arts and sciences, as well as perspectives on todayâ (TM)s Jeffersonian historiographyâ "is to be read in a similar manner. These short essaysâ "light, fresh, and lively, but erudite and provocativeâ "are to be read thus by mavens of Jefferson: one or a few chapters at a time, â oewhereupon to ruminate.â As such, they are to be savored in the manner of the Fables of Aesop or of Senecaâ (TM)s Epistles to his disciple Lucilius, although their engaging nature means the reader may find it difficult to put the book down.

Thomas Jefferson’s 'Notes on the State of Virginia': A Prolegomena

Thomas Jefferson’s 'Notes on the State of Virginia': A Prolegomena PDF Author: M. Andrew Holowchak
Publisher: Vernon Press
ISBN: 1648896618
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Why did Jefferson write 'Notes on the State of Virginia'? There are today two common theses. The first, the Alphabet-Soup Thesis, maintains that the book is more or less a loose collection of notes in answer to the 22 queries given by French diplomat François Barbé-Marbois. Jefferson’s altering the arrangement of his answers to the questions is a matter of allowing for a smoother “narrative” for his answers, but other than that, one ought to be cautious not to read too much into his restructuring. The second, the Deconstructionist Thesis, is that meticulous deconstruction of the text reveals a latent thesis, which Jefferson, consciously or subconsciously, kept from his readers. Both views are problematic. The former cannot explain why Jefferson fell so deeply into the project, rearranged Marbois’ questions so that the book would flow smoothly from nature to culture, and continually revise his often-lengthy answers, even after the Stockdale edition in 1787. The latter suffers from the fact that Jefferson tended never to write elliptically. "Thomas Jefferson’s ‘Notes on the State of Virginia’: A Prolegomena" is an attempt to provide an alternative, “dialectical” reading to current interpretations of the book. The book, Holowchak asserts, is neither a simple omnium gatherum nor is its message accessible only through deconstruction. There is an obvious movement from nature (Gr., 'phusis') in the first seven queries to culture (Gr., 'nomos') in the remaining 16 queries, but that “movement” is not linear. Early naturalistic queries set up neatly Jefferson’s discussion of the cultural aspects of Virginia, and Jefferson’s explication of the cultural aspects of Virginia cannot be grasped without frequent returns to the naturalistic queries, hence its dialectic. Jefferson’s aim overall, sums Holowchak, is the appropriation of what nature had given for humans’ use—to perfect the social state by taming nature and putting it to use for human betterment.

The Disease of Liberty

The Disease of Liberty PDF Author: M. Andrew Holowchak
Publisher: Vernon Press
ISBN: 164889884X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Liberty for Jefferson was 'the' driving force of human history and a realizable state of the human organism and of a society of men. Study of history and anthropology showed that humans were moving from the barbaric independence suffered in primal hordes, which lived inefficiently on lands, to a more economical, human-friendly use of land in social settings, demanding laws for order. Those laws, historically, favored the powerful few to the detriment of the hoi polloi. As a pupil of the Enlightenment, Jefferson argued that all humans were by nature equal, and thus, deserving of as much civic liberty as a reason-oriented and sciences-loving society, a Jeffersonian republic, could guarantee them. This book, philosophical, explains how such a society was possible, given Jefferson’s conception of the nature of man, and how the realization of one such society could lead, through contagion, to a global community of such societies. There are a large number of books that cover Jefferson’s political ideology (e.g., Gordon Wood’s 'Empire of Liberty' and Adrienne Koch’s 'The Philosophy of Thomas Jefferson')—too many to limn—but none that gets at the philosophical implications of TJ’s views on liberty. This book, examining TJ as a natural scientist and philosophy, examines and situates him in the manner of other great political ideologists of his day—e.g., Hume and Kant.

The Mind of Thomas Jefferson

The Mind of Thomas Jefferson PDF Author: Peter S. Onuf
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813934230
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 437

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Book Description
In The Mind of Thomas Jefferson, one of the foremost historians of Jefferson and his time, Peter S. Onuf, offers a collection of essays that seeks to historicize one of our nation’s founding fathers. Challenging current attempts to appropriate Jefferson to serve all manner of contemporary political agendas, Onuf argues that historians must look at Jefferson’s language and life within the context of his own place and time. In this effort to restore Jefferson to his own world, Onuf reconnects that world to ours, providing a fresh look at the distinction between private and public aspects of his character that Jefferson himself took such pains to cultivate. Breaking through Jefferson’s alleged opacity as a person by collapsing the contemporary interpretive frameworks often used to diagnose his psychological and moral states, Onuf raises new questions about what was on Jefferson’s mind as he looked toward an uncertain future. Particularly striking is his argument that Jefferson’s character as a moralist is nowhere more evident, ironically, than in his engagement with the institution of slavery. At once reinvigorating the tension between past and present and offering a new way to view our connection to one of our nation’s founders, The Mind of Thomas Jefferson helps redefine both Jefferson and his time and American nationhood.

The Elusive Thomas Jefferson

The Elusive Thomas Jefferson PDF Author: M. Andrew Holowchak
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476669252
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
Thomas Jefferson's writings on morality have largely been ignored. His thoughts on the subject, never developed in any formal work, are said to be unsystematic--a judgment reinforced by his shift from Stoicism (intentions are critical) to Utilitarianism (consequences are critical) later in life. Yet his writings and the moral works he recommended reveal much about his moral sense and views on good living. Jefferson valued personal moral improvement, had great respect for moral exemplars and drew inspiration from moralists, sermonizers, novelists, poets, historians and such role models as Professor William Small and his friend George Wythe.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson PDF Author: Mark Holowchak
Publisher:
ISBN: 1616149523
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
This is the first book to systematize the philosophical content of Thomas Jefferson's writings. Sifting through Jefferson's many addresses, messages, and letters, philosopher M. Andrew Holowchak uncovers an intensely curious Enlightenment thinker with a well-constructed, people-sympathetic, and consistent philosophy. As the author shows, Jefferson's philosophical views encompassed human nature, the cosmos, politics, morality, and education. Beginning with his understanding of the cosmos, part one considers Jefferson's philosophical naturalism and the influence on him of Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and John Locke. The next section critically examines his political viewpoints, specifically his republicanism, liberalism, and progressivism. The third part, oJefferson on Morality,o analyzes Jefferson's thoughts on human nature, his moral-sense theory, and his notion of onatural aristoio (best or most virtuous citizens). Finally, oJefferson on Educationo reviews his ideas on properly educating the people of the new nation for responsible, participatory citizenry. Jefferson conceived of the United States as a ogreat experimento-embodying a vision of a government responsibly representative of its people and functioning for the sake of them. This book will help readers understand the philosophical perspective that sustained this audacious, innovative, and people-first experiment.

The Writings of Thomas Jefferson

The Writings of Thomas Jefferson PDF Author: Thomas Jefferson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 523

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Book Description
Volume 18 of the 20-book set of writings from Thomas Jefferson, this text contains miscellaneous works from and about the third president, including his Jefferson Papers and?Essay on English Prosody.

An Expression of the American Mind

An Expression of the American Mind PDF Author: Thomas Jefferson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 582

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Book Description