Harry V. Jaffa (1918-2015), one of the profoundest political thinkers
of his time, is known most prominently for his pathbreaking work on
Abraham Lincoln. Jaffa, who taught for 50 years at the Claremont
Colleges and was a Distinguished Fellow of the Claremont Institute,
sought to produce a revolution in political philosophy by applying
Strauss’s controversial thinking about natural right, Scripture, and
human greatness to American politics. In these 10 essays, beginning in
the 1980s, Jaffa rediscovered the moral and intellectual complexity of
statesmanship, in particular that of Lincoln and the American
founders. The essays reveal the profundity of the Declaration of
Independence, in observations both theoretical (e.g., Aristotle and
Aquinas) and practical (e.g., campus radicalism). Jaffa takes aim at
the interpretations of America made by some of Leo Strauss’s
students, chastising their imputation of radically liberal theorizing
to the Declaration and their ignorance of the meaning of “all men
are created equal.” The Declaration’s radicalism lies rather in
its synthesis of ancient political philosophy and Scriptural authority
on the good human life. Jaffa is particularly critical of Allan Bloom
and, in previously unpublished essays, Irving Kristol and Harvey
Mansfield for their errors about America. Jaffa’s essays recover
political philosophy in its political and philosophic dimensions so
that it can be a continuing guide for our politics today.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781538122105
Publisert
2019
Utgiver
Vendor
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter