Overview

In The Natural Rights Republic, renowned political theorist Michael P. Zuckert examines the natural rights philosophy as expressed in sources like the Declaration of Independence and aims to counter contemporary confusion by offering an insightful study of the concept that dominated the mindset of the founding generation of the United States.

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9780268014872

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""...highly intelligent and thoughtful.... There is much to praise in this book."" —International Studies in Philosophy “In this important and engaging book . . . politicial theorist Michael P. Zuckert explores the central significance of the natural rights philosophy to the era of the American Revolution.” —American Historical Review “If a ‘real’ American is one who reasons exclusively from natural rights, then all ‘real’ Americans must presumably disavow utilitarianism and perhaps Kantianism as well—a provocative thesis to say the least. A broad implication of this book is that American political theory (from Jefferson up to Rawls and Nozick) is most essentially a history of attempts to articulate what it means to be an American. Zuckert nicely explains why natural rights figure so prominently in this history.” —Ethics ""Zuckert's book is a powerful exposition of the most central political principles of the American founding. Its elegant articulation of its own thesis, together with its insightful analysis and critique of a wide variety of alternative views, makes it an extremely important contribution to debates on our national origins, which all serious students of the founding and of liberalism will have to confront."" —First Things ""Erudite, cogently argued, and beautifully written."" —Choice “Zuckert’s arguments are clear, accessible, and make effective use of some fascinating historical documents. . . It offers an interesting and valuable historical context for the analysis of natural rights and their role in political society.” —Comptes rendus philosophiques (Philosophy in Review) “This study commands attention and stimulates disagreement.” —Journal of American Studies “The Natural Rights Republic contains many provocative ideas...Anyone who reads Zuckert’s book will learn much of value about the natural rights tradition in America.” —International Journal of the Classical Tradition “This book will likely come to be regarded as a magisterial treatment of the spiritual and theoretical underpinnings of the American founding. It should be read especially by those American Christians inclined to see their country’s founding principles as more Christian than they actually were.” —Calvin Theological Journal

Michael Zuckert is one of the best historians of all the political theorists writing on the American Revolution and its sources. Deeply thoughtful and profoundly learned, The Natural Rights Republic is a critically important book - the most successful yet in the contemporary effort to explain how several ways of thinking came together to create the unique amalgam of political ideas on which America was founded. -- Lance Banning, Department of History, University of Kentucky

Michael Zuckert is one of the best historians of all the political theorists writing on the American Revolution and its sources. Deeply thoughtful and profoundly learned, The Natural Rights Republic is a critically important book - the most successful yet in the contemporary effort to explain how several ways of thinking came together to create the unique amalgam of political ideas on which America was founded. --Lance Banning, Department of History, University of Kentucky

Author Information

Michael P. Zuckert is Nancy Reeves Dreux Professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Natural Rights and the New Republicanism and Launching Liberalism: On Lockean Political Philosophy.

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