The Political Philosophy of Thomas Paine Contributor(s): Fruchtman, Jack (Author) |
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ISBN: 0801892848 ISBN-13: 9780801892844 Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press OUR PRICE: $49.40 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 2009 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Philosophy | Political - Political Science | History & Theory - General - Philosophy | History & Surveys - General |
Dewey: 320.512 |
LCCN: 2008043995 |
Series: Political Philosophy of the American Founders |
Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.6" W x 8.5" (0.85 lbs) 224 pages |
Themes: - Chronological Period - 18th Century |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: This concise, thoughtful introduction to the work of Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense and Rights of Man, explores the impact of one of the most influential minds of the American and French Revolutions and the sources from which his thinking evolved. In Jack Fruchtman Jr.'s helpful interpretation, Paine built his argument for radical revolution in 1776 on a study of nature and Providence and a belief in natural rights. Men and women owed it to themselves to break the chains of rank, hierarchy, and even organized religion in order to live freely, embracing the possibilities of invention, progress, and equality that lay ahead. In 1793, at the height of the French Revolution and its secularizing fury, Paine reminded readers that it was nature's God who created natural rights. The rights of man thus held out both the great potential of freedom and the requirement that human beings be responsible for those who were the least fortunate in society. On balance we may think of Paine as a secular preacher for the rule of reason. |
Contributor Bio(s): Fruchtman, Jack: - Jack Fruchtman Jr. is a professor of political science at Towson University and author of Atlantic Cousins: Benjamin Franklin and His Visionary Friends, The Supreme Court: Rulings on American Government and Society, and Thomas Paine and the Religion of Nature, also published by Johns Hopkins. |