The Pursuit of HappinessAuthor :
Hardback
Published : Tuesday 13 February 2024
Description
A fascinating examination of what ';the pursuit of happiness' meant to our nation's Founders and how that famous phrase defined their lives and became the foundation of our democracy.
The Declaration of Independence identified ';the pursuit of happiness' as one of our unalienable rights, along with life and liberty. Jeffrey Rosen, the president of the National Constitution Center, profiles six of the most influential foundersBenjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamiltonto show what pursuing happiness meant in their lives.
By reading the classical Greek and Roman moral philosophers who inspired the Founders, Rosen shows us how they understood the pursuit of happiness as a quest for being good, not feeling goodthe pursuit of lifelong virtue, not short-term pleasure. Among those virtues were the habits of industry, temperance, moderation, and sincerity, which the Founders viewed as part of a daily struggle for self-improvement, character development, and calm self-mastery. They believed that political self-government required personal self-government. For all six Founders, the pursuit of virtue was incompatible with enslavement of African Americans, although the Virginians betrayed their own principles.
The Pursuit of Happiness is more than an elucidation of the Declaration's famous phrase; it is a revelatory journey into the minds of the Founders, and a deep, rich, and fresh understanding of the foundation of our democracy.
You may also like ...
by
Hardback
13 Feb 2024
History of the Americas
€33.92
Extended stock – Dispatch 5-7 days
by
Hardback
05 Nov 2019
Constitution: government and the state
€32.76
Extended stock – Dispatch 5-7 days
by
Paperback
07 Nov 2017
Methods, theory and philosophy of law
€14.03
Extended stock – Dispatch 5-7 days
by
Paperback
02 Aug 2017
Individual photographers
€29.25
Extended stock – Dispatch 5-7 days
Reviews