America was created by philosophy

[Cypress]

"Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy." —Margaret Thatcher

Commentators often suggest that Americans have no political philosophy. The standard line is that Americans are doers, not thinkers; pragmatists, not philosophers. On first glance, this seems insightful; however, close examination of the corpus of American political thought makes clear that this thought-action dichotomy is illusory. Born of English parents and developed in changing and increasingly heterogeneous contexts, American political thought has cycled around an essentially liberal core for nearly 400 years.

Although Americans tend not to think explicitly in terms of abstract theory, our very institutions are informed by theory. In fact, as Garry Wills has noted, America is an “invented” country, the construct of men who consciously built political structures to govern a nation. The traditional concerns of political philosophy guided them: the nature of humans, the sources of legitimate social and political authority, the nature of, the role of the individual citizen, and the proper ends of social and governmental order. Thus, instead of being theory-poor, American institutions are rooted in, and have developed from, explicitly philosophical origins. Wittingly or not, this conditions American citizens: Our thought and actions are theory bound and guided.



source credit Joseph F. Kobylka, professor of political science

[BidenPresident]

Why do forum people not know how to post a link to the source of the text?!

[Saint Guinefort]

No sense in challenging this because it was said by Joseph F. Kobylka who is a professor of political science. No one can question or debate it.

[Cypress]

No sense in challenging this because it was said by Joseph F. Kobylka who is a professor of political science. No one can question or debate it.

You don't have to discuss the ideas of brilliant or important people if you don't want to.

In that case, I expect to never see you participate in a thread about Darwin's theory of evolution or Einsteins theory of relativity.


I think Margaret Thatcher has latched onto a kernel of truth. In a sense, the intellectual fathers of the American experiment are John Locke and Montesquieu.

[BidenPresident]

You don't have to discuss the ideas of brilliant or important people if you don't want to.

In that case, I expect to never see you participate in a thread about Darwin's theory of evolution or Einsteins theory of relativity.


I think Margaret Thatcher has latched onto a kernel of truth. In a sense, the intellectual fathers of the American experiment are John Locke and Montesquieu.

You join the right wing in refusing to post the source of the text.

[Saint Guinefort]

You don't have to discuss the ideas of brilliant or important people if you don't want to.

It seems you don't either. You just quoted this. Whenever anyone even so much as questions the received wisdom you acquire you don't take it well.

[BidenPresident]

It seems you don't either. You just quoted this. Whenever anyone even so much as questions the received wisdom you acquire you don't take it well.

Yes. Comical and pathetic.

[Saint Guinefort]

You join the right wing in refusing to post the source of the text.

He did give a reference even without the link, so it's actually OK. I could quickly find the text online.

I am curious, however, why Cypress thinks merely quoting something without comment = "Discussion".

[BidenPresident]

He did give a reference even without the link, so it's actually OK. I could quickly find the text online.

I am curious, however, why Cypress thinks merely quoting something without comment = "Discussion".

Not a source. But...who fuckin cares

[Saint Guinefort]

It's OBVIOUSLY true that America was founded by Enlightenment Thinkers who couched all their ideals in terms of the philosophy they were imbibing at the time. That does not mean modern America is anywhere even remotely like that.

We are quickly becoming a low-literacy, solipsistic society of pure consumers. We live to watch Tik Tok videos about cats and we worship money. There is very little left of the Enlightenment in our Late Stage Capitalist society that values greed over all.

[Cypress]

Why do forum people not know how to post a link to the source of the text?!

There is no link, because I copied it from a PDF.

It's interesting because it is a perspective I have not heard. I always bought into the caricature of America as a simple minded nation primarily concerned with pragmatic interests.

I never really thought of our country being based on a deep engagement with philosophy. Which maybe has a kernel of truth, because our destiny was shaped to some extent by Locke and Montesquieu.

[BidenPresident]

There is no link, because I copied it from a PDF.

It's interesting because it is a perspective I have not heard. The caricature of America is of a simple minded nation primarily concerned with pragmatic interests.

I never really thought of our country being based on a deep engagement with philosophy. Which maybe has a kernel of truth, because our destiny was shaped to some extent by Locke and Montesquieu.

no link no read

[NiftyNiblick]

"Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy." —Margaret Thatcher

Commentators often suggest that Americans have no political philosophy. The standard line is that Americans are doers, not thinkers; pragmatists, not philosophers. On first glance, this seems insightful; however, close examination of the corpus of American political thought makes clear that this thought-action dichotomy is illusory. Born of English parents and developed in changing and increasingly heterogeneous contexts, American political thought has cycled around an essentially liberal core for nearly 400 years.

Although Americans tend not to think explicitly in terms of abstract theory, our very institutions are informed by theory. In fact, as Garry Wills has noted, America is an “invented” country, the construct of men who consciously built political structures to govern a nation. The traditional concerns of political philosophy guided them: the nature of humans, the sources of legitimate social and political authority, the nature of, the role of the individual citizen, and the proper ends of social and governmental order. Thus, instead of being theory-poor, American institutions are rooted in, and have developed from, explicitly philosophical origins. Wittingly or not, this conditions American citizens: Our thought and actions are theory bound and guided.



source credit Joseph F. Kobylka, professor of political science

I don't know if this is on topic, but Philosophy 101 was a very important freshman class in college.
It helped keep my GPA on a respectable level.
I'm hard pressed to even imagine an easier A than that.
Those As helped boost up all those Gentleman's Cs.

[BidenPresident]

I don't know if this is on topic, but Philosophy 101 was a very important freshman class in college.
It helped keep my GPA on a respectable level.
I'm hard pressed to even imagine an easier A than that.
Those As helped boost up all those Gentleman's Cs.

You obviously learned nothing from that class.

[NiftyNiblick]

But British Petroleum, I got an A!!!