Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
A Broader and Deeper Foundation: The Bold Vision of James Wilson's Political Philosophy

A Broader and Deeper Foundation: The Bold Vision of James Wilson's Political Philosophy

Ferkaluk, David

Hardcover

International Relations

ISBN10: 1666946370
ISBN13: 9781666946376
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Published: Nov 13 2025
Pages: 226
Weight: 1.04
Height: 0.56 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
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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