Common sense : a political history /
Rosenfeld, Sophia A.,
Common sense : a political history / Sophia Rosenfeld. - Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2011. - 1 online resource (337 pages, 14 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations
Includes bibliographical references and index.
The ghost of common sense: London, 1688-1739 -- Everyman's perception of the world: Aberdeen, 1758-1770 -- The radical uses of bon sens: Amsterdam, 1760-1775 -- Building a common sense republic: Philadelphia, 1776 -- Making war on revolutionary reason: Paris, 1790-1792 -- Konigsberg to New York: the fate of common sense in the modern world.
Common sense has always been a cornerstone of American politics. In 1776, Tom Paine's vital pamphlet with that title sparked the American Revolution. And today, common sense--the wisdom of ordinary people, knowledge so self-evident that it is beyond debate--remains a powerful political ideal, utilized alike by George W. Bush's aw-shucks articulations and Barack Obama's down-to-earth reasonableness. But far from self-evident is where our faith in common sense comes from and how its populist logic has shaped modern democracy. Common Sense: A Political History is the first book to explore this essential political phenomenon. The story begins in the aftermath of England's Glorious Revolution, when common sense first became a political ideal worth struggling over. Sophia Rosenfeld's accessible and insightful account then wends its way across two continents and multiple centuries, revealing the remarkable individuals who appropriated the old, seemingly universal idea of common sense and the new strategic uses they made of it. Paine may have boasted that common sense is always on the side of the people and opposed to the rule of kings, but Rosenfeld demonstrates that common sense has been used to foster demagoguery and exclusivity as well as popular sovereignty. She provides a new account of the transatlantic Enlightenment and the Age of Revolutions, and offers a fresh reading on what the eighteenth century bequeathed to the political ferment of our own time. Far from commonsensical, the history of common sense turns out to be rife with paradox and surprise. Common Sense reveals a political ideal so fundamental to American politics that we are unaware of its power and its myriad uses. Sophia Rosenfeld shows how common sense--the wisdom of ordinary people, self-evident truths--has been used to justify all political extremes, with a history that is anything but commonsensical.
In English.
9780674061286 (electronic bk.) 0674061284 (electronic bk.)
10.4159/harvard.9780674061286 doi
22573/ctt2f3jmn JSTOR
Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809. Common sense.
Common Sense
Common sense (Paine, Thomas)
1700-1799
Political science--History--18th century.
Democracy--United States.
PHILOSOPHY--Political.
POLITICAL SCIENCE--Political Ideologies--Democracy.
Politics and government
Democracy.
Political science.
Demokratie
Politische Philosophie
Common sense.
Politik.
Politisk teori--historia--1700-talet.
Förnuftet.
United States--Politics and government--1775-1783.
France--Politics and government--1789-1799.
États-Unis--Politique et gouvernement--1775-1783.
France--Politique et gouvernement--1789-1799.
France.
United States.
USA
Frankrike--politik och förvaltning--1789-1799.
Förenta staterna--politik och förvaltning--1775-1783.
Electronic books.
History.
JA83 / .R724 2011eb
320.01/1
Common sense : a political history / Sophia Rosenfeld. - Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2011. - 1 online resource (337 pages, 14 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations
Includes bibliographical references and index.
The ghost of common sense: London, 1688-1739 -- Everyman's perception of the world: Aberdeen, 1758-1770 -- The radical uses of bon sens: Amsterdam, 1760-1775 -- Building a common sense republic: Philadelphia, 1776 -- Making war on revolutionary reason: Paris, 1790-1792 -- Konigsberg to New York: the fate of common sense in the modern world.
Common sense has always been a cornerstone of American politics. In 1776, Tom Paine's vital pamphlet with that title sparked the American Revolution. And today, common sense--the wisdom of ordinary people, knowledge so self-evident that it is beyond debate--remains a powerful political ideal, utilized alike by George W. Bush's aw-shucks articulations and Barack Obama's down-to-earth reasonableness. But far from self-evident is where our faith in common sense comes from and how its populist logic has shaped modern democracy. Common Sense: A Political History is the first book to explore this essential political phenomenon. The story begins in the aftermath of England's Glorious Revolution, when common sense first became a political ideal worth struggling over. Sophia Rosenfeld's accessible and insightful account then wends its way across two continents and multiple centuries, revealing the remarkable individuals who appropriated the old, seemingly universal idea of common sense and the new strategic uses they made of it. Paine may have boasted that common sense is always on the side of the people and opposed to the rule of kings, but Rosenfeld demonstrates that common sense has been used to foster demagoguery and exclusivity as well as popular sovereignty. She provides a new account of the transatlantic Enlightenment and the Age of Revolutions, and offers a fresh reading on what the eighteenth century bequeathed to the political ferment of our own time. Far from commonsensical, the history of common sense turns out to be rife with paradox and surprise. Common Sense reveals a political ideal so fundamental to American politics that we are unaware of its power and its myriad uses. Sophia Rosenfeld shows how common sense--the wisdom of ordinary people, self-evident truths--has been used to justify all political extremes, with a history that is anything but commonsensical.
In English.
9780674061286 (electronic bk.) 0674061284 (electronic bk.)
10.4159/harvard.9780674061286 doi
22573/ctt2f3jmn JSTOR
Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809. Common sense.
Common Sense
Common sense (Paine, Thomas)
1700-1799
Political science--History--18th century.
Democracy--United States.
PHILOSOPHY--Political.
POLITICAL SCIENCE--Political Ideologies--Democracy.
Politics and government
Democracy.
Political science.
Demokratie
Politische Philosophie
Common sense.
Politik.
Politisk teori--historia--1700-talet.
Förnuftet.
United States--Politics and government--1775-1783.
France--Politics and government--1789-1799.
États-Unis--Politique et gouvernement--1775-1783.
France--Politique et gouvernement--1789-1799.
France.
United States.
USA
Frankrike--politik och förvaltning--1789-1799.
Förenta staterna--politik och förvaltning--1775-1783.
Electronic books.
History.
JA83 / .R724 2011eb
320.01/1