The Philosophy of Thomas Jefferson 9780231896221

Table of contents :
Acknowledgments
Contents
Introduction
Part One: Ethics
Part Two: Philosophy And Ideology
Part Three: Theory of Society
Conclusion: The Perennial Significance of Jefferson's Thought
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

T H E PHILOSOPHY OF THOMAS

JEFFERSON

Professor Adrienne Koch was born in New York City and studied at New York University and Columbia University. She is the author of Jefferson and Madison, losophy for a Time of Crisis, and Morals

PhiPower,

and the Founding Fathers. She is

at present Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley.

T H E PHILOSOPHY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON BY ADRIENNE

KOCH

Q Quadrangle

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T H E P H I L O S O P H Y O F T H O M A S JEFF E R S O N . © 1943 by Columbia University Press. This book was originally published in 1943 by Columbia University Press, New York, and is here reprinted by arrangement. First Q U A D R A N G L E P A P E R B A C K edition published Inc.,

1964 by Quadrangle Books,

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opinion of French atheists, 95 Agriculture, in favor of, 22, 172 f., 184; addition of useful plants to, 190 Alembert, Jean le R., d', 28, 35, 48 "American experiment, the:" Jefferson's belief in, and contribution to, 186; an example to the world, 187 American Indians, 18, 21, 92 f., 1 1 6 ; vocabularies, 93 American Register, 63 American speech, 11 ο Ampere, Andrl Marie, 65, 75 Analyse de Dufuys ( T r a c y ) , 58 Aristotle, 42, 79 Asylum, right of, 2 i n , 22 Atheists, 28, 95 f., 102 Autobiography (Jefferson), 124, 142, 189; excerpts, 133, 135, 143 Bacon, 50, 66, 69, 7 2 ; classification of faculties of the mind, 48, 105 Banneker, Benjamin, 118 Beauty end Virtue (Hutcheson), 16 Beccaria, Cesare Bonesane, quoted, 166 Becker, Carl, quoted, 137» Benevolence, 25, 30 Bentham, Jeremy, 20 Berkeley, George, 35, 75, 100 Bertrand, Alexis, 87, 88» "Bible of the Atheists," 97; see System of Nature Bibliography, 191-99 Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments, 143 n, 190 Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, 7, 2 1 , 166 Bill of Rights, 161 Biology, ideology placed in the context of zoology, 67, 72, 1 1 3 Biran, Maine de, 65, 75 Blackwell, Thomas, 124 Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, philosophy of, and Jefferson, 1 0 - 1 3 , I X 5

Buffon, Comte de, 47, 92 Bureaucracy and privilege, 174, 188 Burlamaqui, Jean Jacques, 147, 148 Cabanis, P. J . G., 20, J J , 56, 57, 66, 113, 120; methodological materialism, 8388, 97,

114

Cabell, Joseph C., 162, 168 Carr, Peter, 1«, 7n, 16, 29 Cause in society, 124 Causes, Cabanis's position on first, 84; on final, 86, 87 Certainty and error, 77 f. Channing, William £., 1 3 7 » Characteristics, The . . . (Shaftesbury), •J Charron, Pierre, 106 Chinard, Gilbert, 3», 59, 65Η; The Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson . . . , "»> *> 9> * 3 " i quoted, 2, 4, 7, 129 Christianity, moral teachings found in, 2, 4, 8, 12, 23 ff., 42; Bolingbroke's views, 11 ff. i reconciliation of "essential," with scientific and social philosophy, 104; Unitarianism, 1 3 7 1 ; see alio Jesus: Religion Church and State, separation of, 7 Cincinnati, the, 150 Citizens, act concerning . . . , 189 Classes, Jefferson's attitudes toward, 170 ff.; laboring class, 170; landholders, 171; manufacturers, 1 7 3 ; importance of class opposition, 174; Tracy's ideas about relations between, 182-85 Classics, Greek and Roman, 1, 7, 9, 31, "5 Classification of the realm of mind, 111 j Baconian, 48, 105-8 Classifications, Tracy's criticism of, 79 Colleges, curricula, 48, 58, 1 0 7 ; text books for, 56, 64, 154, 167 Commentary and Review of Montesquieu ( T r a c y ) , 56-64 passim; with excerpts, 152 ff., 166i Jefferson opinion of, quoted, 154», 155

202

INDEX

Commerce, international, 1 7 7 , 185 Common people, Jefferson's faith in, 19, 10, 2 i , 118, 149 ff. ·, Dupont's skepticism re educability of, 117 Commonplace Book of philosophers and Poets, The (Jefferson), 1, 1, 9, I J , 46, 115, 1 1 9 ; edited and titled by Chinard, The Literary Bible . . . , i n , 23Λ Commonwealth, 15 5 Condillac, έ . Β. de, 4.8, 1 0 1 ; science of ideology founded by, 65, 66; Tracy'« relationship to, 70-76, 80 Condorcet, Marquis de, 28, 1 1 8 ; quoted, 160η Consciousness, faculties forming, 76 "Consent of the governed," 144 Constitution, need for examination and revision of, 1 4 1 ; Bill of Rights, : 61 Constitutional theory, 140 ff. Constitutions, placing principles at head of, 160 Contract theory, 140 f. Cooper, Thomas, 36, 56 Corruptions of Christianity (Priestley), »7 County courts and administration, 168 Crimes and punishments, 143», 190 Curricula, college, 48, 58, 107 Cursory Reflections on . . . Education ( O g i l v i e ) , ι ion Dicade philosophique, 45 Declaration of Independence, 13») revelatory of natural rights theory,