Two Cities : The Political Thought of American Transcendentalism / Daniel S. Malachuk.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Malachuk, Daniel S., author.

Series:

American political thought.

American Political Thought

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Transcendentalism (New England).

Political science--United States--Philosophy.

Political science.

Fuller, Margaret, 1810-1850--Political and social views.

Fuller, Margaret.

Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862--Political and social views.

Thoreau, Henry David.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882--Political and social views.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (314 pages).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, 2016.

Summary:

"This is an exploration of the political thought of the American transcendentalists focusing on Emerson, Thoreau, and Fuller. They were writing at a time when the American state was thought of as sacred, the two cities of Augustine, the City of God and the City of Man, combined as one. Indeed the Augustinian metaphor was a powerful one, frequently invoked in this period. American republican democracy in the City of Man enabled citizens through their participation in the state to achieve something close to the spiritual status of the City of God. The transcendentalists, with their emphasis on the importance of individual freedom, did not accept this analysis, according to Daniel Malachuk. They looked at American democracy and saw much that did not support individual pursuit of goodness nor a society that approached the status of the City of God. For example, the continued existence of slavery hardly fit with a godly place. Malachuk argues that the separation between the City of God and the City of Man remains important to transcendentalists who thought that individuals needed to be given space by the state to pursue their individual development"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction: "The Last Improvement Possible?"

1. The Right to Two Cities

2. "Knock, and it shall be opened": Fuller's Higher Lawsuit

3. Higher Law Debates and Overlapping Cities

4. "As justice satisfies everybody": Emerson and the City of Man

5. "So we saunter toward the Holy Land": Thoreau and the City of God

Conclusion

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780700623037

OCLC:

960036258