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This volume attempts to throw fresh light on two areas of Benjamin
Franklin's intellectual world, namely: his self-fashioning and his
political thought. It is an odd thing that for all of Franklin's
voluminous writings-a fantastically well-documented correspondence
over many years, scientific treatises that made his name amongst
the brightest minds of Europe, newspaper articles, satires, and of
course his signature on the Declaration of Independence and the
U.S. Constitution-and yet scholars debate how to get at his
political thought, indeed, if he had any political philosophy at
all. It could be argued, that he is perhaps the American Founder
most closely associated with the Enlightenment. Similarly, for a
man who left so much evidence about his life as a printer,
bookseller, postmaster, inventor, diplomat, politician, scientist,
among other professions, one who wrote an autobiography that has
become a piece of American national literature and, indeed, a
contribution to world culture, the question of who Ben Franklin
continues to engage scholars and those who read about his life. His
identity seems so stable that we associate it with certain virtues
that apply to the way we live our lives, time management, for
example. The image of the stable figure of Franklin is applied to
create a sense of trust in everything from financial institutions
to plumbers. His constant drive to improve and fashion himself
reveal, however, a man whose identity was not static and fixed, but
was focused on growth, on bettering his understanding of himself
and the world he lived in and attempted to influence and improve.
This volume attempts to throw fresh light on two areas of Benjamin
Franklin s intellectual world, namely: his self-fashioning and his
political thought. It is an odd thing that for all of Franklin s
voluminous writings a fantastically well-documented correspondence
over many years, scientific treatises that made his name amongst
the brightest minds of Europe, newspaper articles, satires, and of
course his signature on the Declaration of Independence and the
U.S. Constitution and yet scholars debate how to get at his
political thought, indeed, if he had any political philosophy at
all. It could be argued, that he is perhaps the American Founder
most closely associated with the Enlightenment. Similarly, for a
man who left so much evidence about his life as a printer,
bookseller, postmaster, inventor, diplomat, politician, scientist,
among other professions, one who wrote an autobiography that has
become a piece of American national literature and, indeed, a
contribution to world culture, the question of who Ben Franklin
continues to engage scholars and those who read about his life. His
identity seems so stable that we associate it with certain virtues
that apply to the way we live our lives, time management, for
example. The image of the stable figure of Franklin is applied to
create a sense of trust in everything from financial institutions
to plumbers. His constant drive to improve and fashion himself
reveal, however, a man whose identity was not static and fixed, but
was focused on growth, on bettering his understanding of himself
and the world he lived in and attempted to influence and improve."
In this edited collection, Peter Lawler presents a lucid and
comprehensive introduction to a diverse set of political issues
according to Tocqueville. Democracy and Its Friendly Critics
addresses a variety of modern political and social concerns, such
as the moral dimension of democracy, the theoretical challenges to
democracy in our time, the religious dimension of liberty, and the
meaning of work in contemporary American Life. Taking innovative
and unexpected approaches toward familiar topics, the essays
present engaging insights into a democratic society, and the
contributors include some of today's leading figures in political
philosophy. No other collection on Tocqueville addresses
contemporary American political issues in such a direct and
accessible fashion, making this book a valuable resource for the
study of political theory in America.
In this edited collection, Peter Lawler presents a lucid and
comprehensive introduction to a diverse set of political issues
according to Tocqueville. Democracy and Its Friendly Critics
addresses a variety of modern political and social concerns, such
as the moral dimension of democracy, the theoretical challenges to
democracy in our time, the religious dimension of liberty, and the
meaning of work in contemporary American Life. Taking innovative
and unexpected approaches toward familiar topics, the essays
present engaging insights into a democratic society, and the
contributors include some of today's leading figures in political
philosophy. No other collection on Tocqueville addresses
contemporary American political issues in such a direct and
accessible fashion, making this book a valuable resource for the
study of political theory in America.
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