The limits of optimism : Thomas Jefferson's dualistic enlightenment /
Valsania, Maurizio, 1965-
The limits of optimism : Thomas Jefferson's dualistic enlightenment / Maurizio Valsania. - Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2011. - 1 online resource (207 pages) - Jeffersonian America . - Jeffersonian America. .
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Enlightenment and dualism -- Optimism as certainty -- From faith to hope -- Nature and time as overwhelming powers -- Impossibility and despondency -- Dream, imagination, and expediency.
Annotation The Limits of Optimism works to dispel persistent notions about Jefferson's allegedly paradoxical and sphinx-like quality. Maurizio Valsania shows that Jefferson's multifaceted character and personality are to a large extent the logical outcome of an anti-metaphysical, enlightened, and humility-oriented approach to reality. That Jefferson's mind and priorities changed over time and in response to changing circumstances indicates neither incoherence, hypocrisy, nor pathology. Valsania's reading of Jefferson, the Enlightenment, and negativity helps to make sense of the many paradoxes typically associated with that eighteenth-century thinker. At the same time, it provides a corrective to the common though erroneous equation of Enlightenment thinking with rationalism and shallow optimism.
English.
9780813931517 (electronic bk.) 0813931517 (electronic bk.) 1280490276 9781280490279 9786613585509 6613585505
ebc3444013
22573/ctt6tb3w4 JSTOR
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826.
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826.
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826.
1700-1865
Enlightenment--United States.
Siècle des Lumières--États-Unis.
HISTORY--State & Local--General.--United States
HISTORY--Colonial Period (1600-1775)--United States
Enlightenment.
Intellectual life.
Politics and government
United States--Intellectual life--18th century.
United States--Politics and government--1775-1783.
United States--Politics and government--1783-1865.
États-Unis--Vie intellectuelle--18e siècle.
États-Unis--Politique et gouvernement--1775-1783.
États-Unis--Politique et gouvernement--1783-1865.
United States.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
E332.2 / .V35 2011eb
973.4/6092
The limits of optimism : Thomas Jefferson's dualistic enlightenment / Maurizio Valsania. - Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2011. - 1 online resource (207 pages) - Jeffersonian America . - Jeffersonian America. .
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Enlightenment and dualism -- Optimism as certainty -- From faith to hope -- Nature and time as overwhelming powers -- Impossibility and despondency -- Dream, imagination, and expediency.
Annotation The Limits of Optimism works to dispel persistent notions about Jefferson's allegedly paradoxical and sphinx-like quality. Maurizio Valsania shows that Jefferson's multifaceted character and personality are to a large extent the logical outcome of an anti-metaphysical, enlightened, and humility-oriented approach to reality. That Jefferson's mind and priorities changed over time and in response to changing circumstances indicates neither incoherence, hypocrisy, nor pathology. Valsania's reading of Jefferson, the Enlightenment, and negativity helps to make sense of the many paradoxes typically associated with that eighteenth-century thinker. At the same time, it provides a corrective to the common though erroneous equation of Enlightenment thinking with rationalism and shallow optimism.
English.
9780813931517 (electronic bk.) 0813931517 (electronic bk.) 1280490276 9781280490279 9786613585509 6613585505
ebc3444013
22573/ctt6tb3w4 JSTOR
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826.
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826.
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826.
1700-1865
Enlightenment--United States.
Siècle des Lumières--États-Unis.
HISTORY--State & Local--General.--United States
HISTORY--Colonial Period (1600-1775)--United States
Enlightenment.
Intellectual life.
Politics and government
United States--Intellectual life--18th century.
United States--Politics and government--1775-1783.
United States--Politics and government--1783-1865.
États-Unis--Vie intellectuelle--18e siècle.
États-Unis--Politique et gouvernement--1775-1783.
États-Unis--Politique et gouvernement--1783-1865.
United States.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
E332.2 / .V35 2011eb
973.4/6092