Michael P. Zuckert's Books

Natural Rights and the New Republicanism

By: Michael Zuckert

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Natural Rights and the New Republicanism

By: Michael Zuckert

In Natural Rights and the New Republicanism, Michael Zuckert proposes a new view of the political philosophy that lay behind the founding of the United States. In a book that will interest political scientists, historians, and philosophers, Zuckert looks at the Whig or opposition tradition as it developed in England. He argues that there were, in fact, three opposition traditions: Protestant, Grotian, and Lockean. Before the English Civil War the opposition was inspired by the effort to find the "one true Protestant politics--an effort that was seen to be a failure by the end of the Interregnum period. The Restoration saw the emergence of the Whigs, who sought a way to ground politics free from the sectarian theological-scriptural conflicts of the previous period. The Whigs were particularly influenced by the Dutch natural law philosopher Hugo Grotius. However, as Zuckert shows, by the mid-eighteenth century John Locke had replaced Grotius as the philosopher of the Whigs. Zuckert's analysis concludes with a penetrating examination of John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, the English "Cato," who, he argues, brought together Lockean political philosophy and pre-existing Whig political science into a new and powerful synthesis. Although it has been misleadingly presented as a separate "classical republican" tradition in recent scholarly discussions, it is this "new republicanism" that served as the philosophical point of departure for the founders of the American republic.

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Page Count

418

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1400821525

ISBN 13

9781400821525

The Michael Eric Dyson Reader

By: Michael Eric Dyson

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The Michael Eric Dyson Reader

By: Michael Eric Dyson

Over the past ten years, the work of Michael Eric Dyson has become the first stop for readers, writers, and thinkers eager for uncommon wisdom on the racial and political dynamics of contemporary America. Whether writing on religion or sexuality or notions of whiteness, on Martin Luther King, Jr. or Tupac Shakur, Dyson's keen insight and rhetorical flair continue to surprise and challenge. This collection gathers the best of Dyson's growing body of work: his most incisive commentary, his most stirring passages, and his sharpest, most probing and broadminded critical analyses. From Michael Jordan to Derrida, Ralph Ellison to the diplomacy of Colin Powell, the mastery and ease with which Dyson tackles just about any subject is without parallel.

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Page Count

590

Publisher

Civitas Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0786725109

ISBN 13

9780786725106

A Nation So Conceived

Abraham Lincoln and the Paradox of Democratic Sovereignty

By: Michael P. Zuckert

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A Nation So Conceived

Abraham Lincoln and the Paradox of Democratic Sovereignty

By: Michael P. Zuckert

The culmination of years of work on Abraham Lincoln’s political thought, Michael P. Zuckert’s A Nation So Conceived argues for a coherent center to Lincoln’s political ideology, a core idea that unifies his thought and thus illuminates his deeds as a political actor. That core idea is captured in the term “democratic sovereignty.” Zuckert provides invaluable guidance to understanding both Lincoln and the politics of the United States between 185 and Lincoln’s death in 1865 by focusing on roughly a dozen speeches that Lincoln made during his career. This reader-friendly chronological organization is motivated by Zuckert’s emphasis on Lincoln as a practical politician who was always fully aware of the political context of the moment within which he was speaking. According to Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg, America was new precisely because it was born in dedication to the first premise of the theory of democratic sovereignty: that all men are created equal. Lincoln’s thought consisted in an ever-deepening meditation on the grounds and implications of that proposition, both in its constructive and in its destructive potential. The goodness of the American regime is derived from that ground and the chief dangers to the regime emanate from the same soil. Covering all significant speeches and writings of Lincoln both in his pre-presidential and presidential days, A Nation So Conceived is devoted to exploring the paradoxical duality of “created equal.” In a nearly comprehensive study of Lincoln’s thought, Zuckert uses lessons he learned from decades of teaching to reveal how Lincoln understood both its truth and its pathological consequences while offering an assessment of his aims and achievements as a statesman.

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Page Count

416

Publisher

University Press of Kansas

Published Date

ISBN 10

0700633928

ISBN 13

9780700633920

Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophy

By: Michael P. Zuckert,Catherine H. Zuckert

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Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophy

By: Michael P. Zuckert,Catherine H. Zuckert

This critical study of the influential political theorist dispels popular myths and reveals the inner logic of his varied and notoriously complex writings. Political theorist Leo Strauss was unexpectedly thrust into the media spotlight for his alleged influence on neoconservative politics. With The Truth about Leo Strauss, Michael and Catherine Zuckert challenged the many claims and speculations about this complex thinker. Now, with Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophy, they offer a more comprehensive interpretation of Strauss’s thought, using the many manifestations of the “problem of political philosophy” as their touchstone. Strauss, they argue, sought to restore political philosophy to its original Socratic form. This is demonstrated through his critique of positivism and historicism, two intellectual currents that undermined his Socratic project. The authors also explore Strauss’s interpretation of both ancient and modern political philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, and Locke. Finally, they examine Strauss’s thought in the context of the twentieth century, when his chief interlocutors were Schmitt, Husserl, Heidegger, and Nietzsche. Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophy is the most in-depth treatment of this often misunderstood thinker, examining his ideas across his long career. It reveals Strauss’s overall intellectual project: to decode how ancient and modern theory attempted to solve the problem of political philosophy. And it shows why Strauss considered the ancient solution both philosophically and politically superior.

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Page Count

400

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

022613587X

ISBN 13

9780226135878

The Truth about Leo Strauss

Political Philosophy and American Democracy

By: Catherine H. Zuckert,Michael P. Zuckert

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The Truth about Leo Strauss

Political Philosophy and American Democracy

By: Catherine H. Zuckert,Michael P. Zuckert

Is Leo Strauss truly an intellectual forebear of neoconservatism and a powerful force in shaping Bush administration foreign policy? The Truth about Leo Strauss puts this question to rest, revealing for the first time how the popular media came to perpetuate such an oversimplified view of such a complex and wide-ranging philosopher. More important, it corrects our perception of Strauss, providing the best general introduction available to the political thought of this misunderstood figure. Catherine and Michael Zuckert—both former students of Strauss—guide readers here to a nuanced understanding of how Strauss’s political thought fits into his broader philosophy. Challenging the ideas that Strauss was an inflexible conservative who followed in the footsteps of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Carl Schmitt, the Zuckerts contend that Strauss’s signature idea was the need for a return to the ancients. This idea, they show, stemmed from Strauss’s belief that modern thought, with its relativism and nihilism, undermines healthy politics and even the possibility of real philosophy. Identifying this view as one of Strauss’s three core propositions—America is modern, modernity is bad, and America is good—they conclude that Strauss was a sober defender of liberal democracy, aware of both its strengths and its weaknesses. The Zuckerts finish, appropriately, by examining the varied work of Strauss’s numerous students and followers, revealing the origins—rooted in the tensions within his own thought—oftheir split into opposing camps. Balanced and accessible, The Truth about Leo Strauss is a must-read for anyone who wants to more fully comprehend this enigmatic philosopher and his much-disputed legacy.

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Page Count

317

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226993345

ISBN 13

9780226993348

Free Speech, The People's Darling Privilege

Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History

By: Michael Kent Curtis

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Free Speech, The People's Darling Privilege

Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History

By: Michael Kent Curtis

Modern ideas about the protection of free speech in the United States did not originate in twentieth-century Supreme Court cases, as many have thought. Free Speech, “The People’s Darling Privilege” refutes this misconception by examining popular struggles for free speech that stretch back through American history. Michael Kent Curtis focuses on struggles in which ordinary and extraordinary people, men and women, black and white, demanded and fought for freedom of speech during the period from 1791—when the Bill of Rights and its First Amendment bound only the federal government to protect free expression—to 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment sought to extend this mandate to the states. A review chapter is also included to bring the story up to date. Curtis analyzes three crucial political struggles: the controversy that surrounded the 1798 Sedition Act, which raised the question of whether criticism of elected officials would be protected speech; the battle against slavery, which raised the question of whether Americans would be free to criticize a great moral, social, and political evil; and the controversy over anti-war speech during the Civil War. Many speech issues raised by these controversies were ultimately decided outside the judicial arena—in Congress, in state legislatures, and, perhaps most importantly, in public discussion and debate. Curtis maintains that modern proposals for changing free speech doctrine can usefully be examined in the light of this often ignored history. This broader history shows the crucial effect that politicians, activists, ordinary citizens—and later the courts—have had on the American understanding of free speech. Filling a gap in legal history, this enlightening, richly researched historical investigation will be valuable for students and scholars of law, U.S. history, and political science, as well as for general readers interested in civil liberties and free speech.

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Page Count

534

Publisher

Duke University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0822381060

ISBN 13

9780822381068

American Government

Essentials and Perspectives

By: Jack E. Holmes,Michael J. Engelhardt,Robert E. Elder

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American Government

Essentials and Perspectives

By: Jack E. Holmes,Michael J. Engelhardt,Robert E. Elder

This text aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice by emphasizing the basics of national government as seen from a variety of perspectives - conservative, liberal, libertarian, populist and Marxist. This material is blended with a brief, straightforward presentation of the basics of national government.

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532

Publisher

McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages

Published Date

ISBN 10

0070297673

ISBN 13

9780070297678

A Nation So Conceived

Abraham Lincoln and the Paradox of Democratic Sovereignty

By: Michael P. Zuckert

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A Nation So Conceived

Abraham Lincoln and the Paradox of Democratic Sovereignty

By: Michael P. Zuckert

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Page Count

416

Publisher

University Press of Kansas

Published Date

ISBN 10

0700633928

ISBN 13

9780700633920

Book's by Michael P. Zuckert

Natural Rights and the New Republicanism

Natural Rights and the New Republicanism

The Michael Eric Dyson Reader

The Michael Eric Dyson Reader

A Nation So Conceived

A Nation So Conceived

Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophy

Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophy

The Truth about Leo Strauss

The Truth about Leo Strauss

Free Speech, The People's Darling Privilege

Free Speech, The People's Darling Privilege

American Government

American Government

A Nation So Conceived

A Nation So Conceived

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