Overview

A Broader and Deeper Foundation: The Bold Vision of James Wilson’s Political Philosophy rediscovers the forgotten political philosophy of American founding father James Wilson, revealing his bold, alternative vision for American politics. Wilson crafted a political philosophy centered on popular sovereignty and based upon Thomas Reid’s common-sense realism and moral philosophy. Wilson understood popular sovereignty as possessing both a moral and a political component. “The people” were not solely political actors, but also moral agents and morally responsible. He insisted that each person possessed a telos or purpose to pursue their own moral excellence, which he dubbed “happiness,” achieved through political participation (i.e., suffrage) as an integral means of every person’s telos. His re-definition of ""happiness,"" which forms a core part of his political philosophy, imbues the modern phrase with a traditional republican meaning. “Happiness” for Wilson functions as America's broader and deeper foundation, serving as the moral telos of popular sovereignty, the foundation of American democracy. His interpretations of happiness and popular sovereignty united America’s founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

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9781666946376

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Reviews

James Wilson was an important though lesser-known Founding-era figure. David Ferkaluk discusses persuasively and in detail how Wilson’s political thought was shaped by the Scottish philosopher Thomas Reid. This enabled Wilson to think differently about popular sovereignty than his better-known contemporaries, Madison and Jefferson, and to place the new American republic on the 'broader and deeper foundation' featured in this book. -- James H. Read * College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, USA * A Broader and Deeper Foundation is a sympathetic account of James Wilson’s political thought and of its influence on American political history. Many of the insights are fresh, and the comparison of Wilson to the constitutional thought of Daniel Webster and Abraham Lincoln is original and revealing. This book will certainly be read by specialists, but is admirably well written and will be accessible to a broad audience. -- William Ewald * University of Pennsylvania, USA *

Author Information

David Ferkaluk is a Lyceum Visiting Scholar in the Snow Institute for the Study of Capitalism at Clemson University.

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