In this book, Edward Erler brings a lifetime of study of political
philosophy, the American founding, and the US constitution to the
central role of property in American constitutional thought. Erler
argues that the Founders considered the natural right to property as
the comprehensive right that included every other right. In this sense
they followed political philosopher John Locke, but at the same time
made significant improvements on Locke, making it moral and political,
something they called the “pursuit of happiness.” In the past
century, this understanding of the right to property—derived from
the principles of the Declaration of Independence—has been
challenged by the rise of progressivism, which places promoting
community welfare above the protection of individual rights as the
central role of government. This has led to the administrative
state’s unrelenting attacks on the right to private property, which
have effectively ended the right to property as it was understood by
the founders. Property and the Pursuit of Happiness offers a learned
and wide-ranging discussion of the values at the core of America’s
founding that will be of interest to all readers seeking to understand
the founders’ vision and the profound challenges to it today.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781538130872
Publisert
2019
Utgiver
Vendor
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter