Thomas Jefferson - M. Andrew Holowchak

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Résumé :
Table of Contents

Preface
1.?The ennui ... of a tedious sermon: Head versus Heart in a Love Letter to Maria Cosway
2.?Art appears too much: Jefferson and the Moral and Aesthetic Senses
3.?Expediency can never contend with virtue: Jefferson's Ancient Philosophy Sources
4.?The law of nature ... cannot be stationary: Jefferson's Curious Immixture of Modern Moralists
5.?Ethicizing Through Truth and Untruth: The Lessons of History and Useful Fiction
6.?The Politics of Progress: The Lessons of Government by the Few
7.?Duty to God and Duty to Man: Jefferson on Religion, Sectarian and Natural
8.?Government by the Natural Aristoi: Education and the Problem of Virtuous Politicians
9.?The (Stoic) Sage of Monticello: Truth [as] a branch of morality
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
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Biographie:
M. Andrew Holowchak, Ph.D. is a professor of philosophy and history, who taught at institutions such as University of Pittsburgh, University of Michigan, and Rutgers University, Camden. He is editor of 'Journal of Thomas Jefferson and His Time' and author/editor of over 50 books and over 200 published essays on topics such as ethics, ancient philosophy, science, psychoanalysis, and critical thinking. His current research is on Thomas Jefferson-he is acknowledged by many scholars to be the world's foremost authority-and he has published nearly 150 essays and 20 books on Jefferson. Holowchak has a B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy (Wayne State University), an M.A. in Philosophy (Wayne State), an M.A. in History and Philosophy of Science (University of Pittsburgh), and a Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science (University of Pittsburgh).

Sommaire:
Much of the scholarship on Thomas Jefferson characterizes him as a consummate immoralist. Yet he had a keen interest in morality and most of his reading--when he was not immersed in politics--was for moral study. Jefferson once told his physician, Vine Utley, that he seldom went to sleep without first reading something morally inspiring. Some Jefferson scholars consider him at best a moral dilettante with incoherent views. Others see him as a Stoic, interested in virtue as measured by both intentions and outcomes, who in later life became an Epicurean, weighing pleasure versus ends. Drawing on a careful reading of his writings and an examination of his known readings on morality, this study argues that Jefferson developed early a consistent moral sense--Stoical in essence and focused on his own moral improvement--and maintained it throughout his life....