The myth of American individualism : the Protestant origins of American political thought
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書誌事項
The myth of American individualism : the Protestant origins of American political thought
（Princeton paperbacks）
Princeton University Press, 1996, c1994
- : pbk
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注記
First pbk. printing with corrections, 1996
Includes bibliographical references (p. [329]-377) and index
内容説明・目次
内容説明
Sharpening the debate over the values that formed America's founding political philosophy, Barry Alan Shain challenges us to reconsider what early Americans meant when they used such basic political concepts as the public good, liberty, and slavery. We have too readily assumed, he argues, that eighteenth-century Americans understood these and other terms in an individualistic manner. However, by exploring how these core elements of their political thought were employed in Revolutionary-era sermons, public documents, newspaper editorials, and political pamphlets, Shain reveals a very different understanding--one based on a reformed Protestant communalism. In this context, individual liberty was the freedom to order one's life in accord with the demanding ethical standards found in Scripture and confirmed by reason. This was in keeping with Americans' widespread acceptance of original sin and the related assumption that a well-lived life was only possible in a tightly knit, intrusive community made up of families, congregations, and local government bodies.
Shain concludes that Revolutionary-era Americans defended a Protestant communal vision of human flourishing that stands in stark opposition to contemporary liberal individualism. This overlooked component of the American political inheritance, he further suggests, demands examination because it alters the historical ground upon which contemporary political alternatives often seek legitimation, and it facilitates our understanding of much of American history and of the foundational language still used in authoritative political documents.
目次
AcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroduction3Pt. 1Standing: The Public Good, the Individual, and the CommunityCh. 1Three Discourses in Defense of the Public Good23Ch. 2A Sketch of 18th-Century American Communalism48Ch. 3Localism and the Myth of American Individualism84Ch. 4Three Leading Views of the Individual, Plus One116Pt. 2The Meaning of Liberty in the Revolutionary EraCh. 5A Delusive Similarity: (Ordered) Liberty and Freedom155Ch. 6Spiritual Liberty: The Quintessential Liberty193Ch. 7Corporate Liberty: Political and Civil241Ch. 8The Concept of Slavery: Liberty's Antithesis289Afterword320Bibliography329Index379
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