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Benjamin Franklin, Natural Right, and the Art of Virtue

By Kevin Slack

Benjamin Franklin, Natural Right, and the Art of Virtue Law

Benjamin Franklin, Natural Right, and the Art of Virtue

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Description
Benjamin Franklin's writings on politics are voluminous, and his own politics are well known, yet scholars debate -- often fiercely -- whether he had a political philosophy and, if so, what it was. I>Benjamin Franklin, Natural Right, and the Art of Virtue is a study of Franklin's political and philosophical writings, tracing the development of his political thought and elucidating the political philosophy he came to embrace and put into practice. Kevin Slack argues that Franklin, despite his reputation as a wit and clever politician, examined the nature of politics, virtue, and morality more deeply than any scholar has given him credit for. Franklin, as Slack demonstrates, rejected metaphysics during a period of youthful skepticism, adopting radical skepticism, but later abandoned that view for a third alternative, Shaftesbury's common-sense philosophy. Engaging in a rigorous critique of religious and political authorities, Franklin rejected all authoritative claims but that of reason, which he used to investigate the nature of justice, or natural right. Slack shows here that Franklin was a thinker in the tradition of Socrates, and thus a political philosopher in the truest and highest sense. Kevin Slack is assistant professor of politics at Hillsdale College.
Product details
Number of Pages:
318
Release Date:
2017-06-15
Publication Date:
2017-06-01
Publisher:
Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Languages:
Original: English
ISBN10:
1580465633
ISBN13:
9781580465632
GPSR Manufacturer Reference:
[email protected]
Weight:
669 g
Height:
157 cm
Width:
235 cm
Thickness:
23 cm
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