The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime

The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime

Author: Elizabeth Amato

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2018-02-28

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1498554202

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The Declaration of Independence claims that individuals need liberty to pursue happiness, but provides little guidance on the “what” of happiness. Happiness studies and liberal theory are incomplete guides. Happiness studies offer insights into what makes people happy but happiness policy risks becoming doctrinaire. Liberal theory is better on personal liberty, but weak on the “what” of happiness. My argument is that American novelists are surer guides on the pursuit of happiness. Treated as political thinkers, my book offers a close reading of four American novelists, Tom Wolfe, Walker Percy, Edith Wharton, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and their critique of the pursuit of happiness. With a critical and friendly eye, they present the shortcomings of pursuing happiness in a liberal nation but also present alternatives and correctives possible in America. Our novelists point us toward each other in friendship as our greatest resource to guide us towards happiness.


Book Synopsis The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime by : Elizabeth Amato

Download or read book The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime written by Elizabeth Amato and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2018-02-28 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Declaration of Independence claims that individuals need liberty to pursue happiness, but provides little guidance on the “what” of happiness. Happiness studies and liberal theory are incomplete guides. Happiness studies offer insights into what makes people happy but happiness policy risks becoming doctrinaire. Liberal theory is better on personal liberty, but weak on the “what” of happiness. My argument is that American novelists are surer guides on the pursuit of happiness. Treated as political thinkers, my book offers a close reading of four American novelists, Tom Wolfe, Walker Percy, Edith Wharton, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and their critique of the pursuit of happiness. With a critical and friendly eye, they present the shortcomings of pursuing happiness in a liberal nation but also present alternatives and correctives possible in America. Our novelists point us toward each other in friendship as our greatest resource to guide us towards happiness.

The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime

The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime

Author: Elizabeth S. Amato

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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The Declaration assumes that government has a duty to ensure that its citizens can pursue happiness, but it does not specify how or to what degree a government can or should exert influence over and take responsibility for happiness. The project for this dissertation is to consider American novelists as guides on the pursuit of happiness who with a critical eye can present the shortcomings of pursuing happiness in a liberal nation but also present alternatives and correctives compatible with liberalism. American novelists offer insights about the prospects for happiness in a liberal regime and the difficulties Americans face in attaining it. I examine works by four American novelists--Tom Wolfe, Walker Percy, Edith Wharton, and Nathaniel Hawthorne--in order to show how our novelists engage us in our understanding of and the pursuit of happiness. Through depicting characters pursuing happiness, our novelists show how our political and social order does or does not facilitate the pursuit of happiness and what individual decisions can contribute to or detract from happiness. In so doing, our novelists provide signposts and other markers to indicate what roads and pathways are or are not likely to contribute to happiness. The individual enjoys meaningful freedom to act on his own and in coordination with others for the sake of pursuing happiness. Our novelists point us toward each other as our greatest resource to help us and to guide us toward happiness.


Book Synopsis The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime by : Elizabeth S. Amato

Download or read book The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime written by Elizabeth S. Amato and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Declaration assumes that government has a duty to ensure that its citizens can pursue happiness, but it does not specify how or to what degree a government can or should exert influence over and take responsibility for happiness. The project for this dissertation is to consider American novelists as guides on the pursuit of happiness who with a critical eye can present the shortcomings of pursuing happiness in a liberal nation but also present alternatives and correctives compatible with liberalism. American novelists offer insights about the prospects for happiness in a liberal regime and the difficulties Americans face in attaining it. I examine works by four American novelists--Tom Wolfe, Walker Percy, Edith Wharton, and Nathaniel Hawthorne--in order to show how our novelists engage us in our understanding of and the pursuit of happiness. Through depicting characters pursuing happiness, our novelists show how our political and social order does or does not facilitate the pursuit of happiness and what individual decisions can contribute to or detract from happiness. In so doing, our novelists provide signposts and other markers to indicate what roads and pathways are or are not likely to contribute to happiness. The individual enjoys meaningful freedom to act on his own and in coordination with others for the sake of pursuing happiness. Our novelists point us toward each other as our greatest resource to help us and to guide us toward happiness.

The Pursuit of Happiness in the Founding Era

The Pursuit of Happiness in the Founding Era

Author: Carli N. Conklin

Publisher: University of Missouri Press

Published: 2019-03-20

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 0826274277

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Scholars have long debated the meaning of the pursuit of happiness, yet have tended to define it narrowly, focusing on a single intellectual tradition, and on the use of the term within a single text, the Declaration of Independence. In this insightful volume, Carli Conklin considers the pursuit of happiness across a variety of intellectual traditions, and explores its usage in two key legal texts of the Founding Era, the Declaration and William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. For Blackstone, the pursuit of happiness was a science of jurisprudence, by which his students could know, and then rightly apply, the first principles of the Common Law. For the founders, the pursuit of happiness was the individual right to pursue a life lived in harmony with the law of nature and a public duty to govern in accordance with that law. Both applications suggest we consider anew how the phrase, and its underlying legal philosophies, were understood in the founding era. With this work, Conklin makes important contributions to the fields of early American intellectual and legal history.


Book Synopsis The Pursuit of Happiness in the Founding Era by : Carli N. Conklin

Download or read book The Pursuit of Happiness in the Founding Era written by Carli N. Conklin and published by University of Missouri Press. This book was released on 2019-03-20 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars have long debated the meaning of the pursuit of happiness, yet have tended to define it narrowly, focusing on a single intellectual tradition, and on the use of the term within a single text, the Declaration of Independence. In this insightful volume, Carli Conklin considers the pursuit of happiness across a variety of intellectual traditions, and explores its usage in two key legal texts of the Founding Era, the Declaration and William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. For Blackstone, the pursuit of happiness was a science of jurisprudence, by which his students could know, and then rightly apply, the first principles of the Common Law. For the founders, the pursuit of happiness was the individual right to pursue a life lived in harmony with the law of nature and a public duty to govern in accordance with that law. Both applications suggest we consider anew how the phrase, and its underlying legal philosophies, were understood in the founding era. With this work, Conklin makes important contributions to the fields of early American intellectual and legal history.

In Pursuit

In Pursuit

Author: Charles A. Murray

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 9780671611002

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A modern classic--back in print and available again. Originally published in 1988, this book draws on advances in psychology and sociology to explore the fundamental questions of what is meant by "success". Rich in fascinating case studies. Line drawings, graphs and tables.


Book Synopsis In Pursuit by : Charles A. Murray

Download or read book In Pursuit written by Charles A. Murray and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 1988 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A modern classic--back in print and available again. Originally published in 1988, this book draws on advances in psychology and sociology to explore the fundamental questions of what is meant by "success". Rich in fascinating case studies. Line drawings, graphs and tables.

The Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness

Author: Tara Altebrando

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2006-03-07

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1416513280

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Reeling from her mother's death, an aimless 21st-century teen working at a historic village discovers new friends, new loves, and the courage to forge her own path.


Book Synopsis The Pursuit of Happiness by : Tara Altebrando

Download or read book The Pursuit of Happiness written by Tara Altebrando and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2006-03-07 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reeling from her mother's death, an aimless 21st-century teen working at a historic village discovers new friends, new loves, and the courage to forge her own path.

Happiness in America

Happiness in America

Author: Lawrence R. Samuel

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-11-08

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 1538115778

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Happiness in America: A Cultural History is a cultural history of happiness in the United States. The book charts the role of happiness in everyday life over the past century and concludes that Americans have never been a particularly happy people. Samuel suggests readers abandon their pursuit of happiness and instead seek out greater joy in life.


Book Synopsis Happiness in America by : Lawrence R. Samuel

Download or read book Happiness in America written by Lawrence R. Samuel and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-11-08 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Happiness in America: A Cultural History is a cultural history of happiness in the United States. The book charts the role of happiness in everyday life over the past century and concludes that Americans have never been a particularly happy people. Samuel suggests readers abandon their pursuit of happiness and instead seek out greater joy in life.

The Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness

Author: Bianca C. Williams

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2018-02-08

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0822372134

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In The Pursuit of Happiness Bianca C. Williams traces the experiences of African American women as they travel to Jamaica, where they address the perils and disappointments of American racism by looking for intimacy, happiness, and a connection to their racial identities. Through their encounters with Jamaican online communities and their participation in trips organized by Girlfriend Tours International, the women construct notions of racial, sexual, and emotional belonging by forming relationships with Jamaican men and other "girlfriends." These relationships allow the women to exercise agency and find happiness in ways that resist the damaging intersections of racism and patriarchy in the United States. However, while the women require a spiritual and virtual connection to Jamaica in order to live happily in the United States, their notion of happiness relies on travel, which requires leveraging their national privilege as American citizens. Williams's theorization of "emotional transnationalism" and the construction of affect across diasporic distance attends to the connections between race, gender, and affect while highlighting how affective relationships mark nationalized and gendered power differentials within the African diaspora.


Book Synopsis The Pursuit of Happiness by : Bianca C. Williams

Download or read book The Pursuit of Happiness written by Bianca C. Williams and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2018-02-08 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Pursuit of Happiness Bianca C. Williams traces the experiences of African American women as they travel to Jamaica, where they address the perils and disappointments of American racism by looking for intimacy, happiness, and a connection to their racial identities. Through their encounters with Jamaican online communities and their participation in trips organized by Girlfriend Tours International, the women construct notions of racial, sexual, and emotional belonging by forming relationships with Jamaican men and other "girlfriends." These relationships allow the women to exercise agency and find happiness in ways that resist the damaging intersections of racism and patriarchy in the United States. However, while the women require a spiritual and virtual connection to Jamaica in order to live happily in the United States, their notion of happiness relies on travel, which requires leveraging their national privilege as American citizens. Williams's theorization of "emotional transnationalism" and the construction of affect across diasporic distance attends to the connections between race, gender, and affect while highlighting how affective relationships mark nationalized and gendered power differentials within the African diaspora.

Property and the Pursuit of Happiness

Property and the Pursuit of Happiness

Author: Edward J. Erler

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-07-26

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1538130874

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In this book, Edward Erler brings a lifetime of study of political philosophy, the American founding, and the US constitution to the central role of property in American constitutional thought. Erler argues that the Founders considered the natural right to property as the comprehensive right that included every other right. In this sense they followed political philosopher John Locke, but at the same time made significant improvements on Locke, making it moral and political, something they called the “pursuit of happiness.” In the past century, this understanding of the right to property—derived from the principles of the Declaration of Independence—has been challenged by the rise of progressivism, which places promoting community welfare above the protection of individual rights as the central role of government. This has led to the administrative state’s unrelenting attacks on the right to private property, which have effectively ended the right to property as it was understood by the founders. Property and the Pursuit of Happiness offers a learned and wide-ranging discussion of the values at the core of America’s founding that will be of interest to all readers seeking to understand the founders’ vision and the profound challenges to it today.


Book Synopsis Property and the Pursuit of Happiness by : Edward J. Erler

Download or read book Property and the Pursuit of Happiness written by Edward J. Erler and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-07-26 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Edward Erler brings a lifetime of study of political philosophy, the American founding, and the US constitution to the central role of property in American constitutional thought. Erler argues that the Founders considered the natural right to property as the comprehensive right that included every other right. In this sense they followed political philosopher John Locke, but at the same time made significant improvements on Locke, making it moral and political, something they called the “pursuit of happiness.” In the past century, this understanding of the right to property—derived from the principles of the Declaration of Independence—has been challenged by the rise of progressivism, which places promoting community welfare above the protection of individual rights as the central role of government. This has led to the administrative state’s unrelenting attacks on the right to private property, which have effectively ended the right to property as it was understood by the founders. Property and the Pursuit of Happiness offers a learned and wide-ranging discussion of the values at the core of America’s founding that will be of interest to all readers seeking to understand the founders’ vision and the profound challenges to it today.

Pursuits of Happiness

Pursuits of Happiness

Author: Stanley Cavell

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1981

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9780674739062

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Looks at seven classic romantic comedies of the thirties and forties, and compares what each film expresses about marriage, interdependence, equality, and sexual roles.


Book Synopsis Pursuits of Happiness by : Stanley Cavell

Download or read book Pursuits of Happiness written by Stanley Cavell and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1981 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looks at seven classic romantic comedies of the thirties and forties, and compares what each film expresses about marriage, interdependence, equality, and sexual roles.

Leo Strauss, The Straussians, and the Study of the American Regime

Leo Strauss, The Straussians, and the Study of the American Regime

Author: Kenneth L. Deutsch

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Published: 1999-09-28

Total Pages: 467

ISBN-13: 1461600677

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Responding to volatile criticisms frequently leveled at Leo Strauss and those he influenced, the prominent contributors to this volume demonstrate the profound influence that Strauss and his students have exerted on American liberal democracy and contemporary political thought. By stressing the enduring vitality of classic books and by articulating the theoretical and practical flaws of relativism and historicism, the contributors argue that Strauss and the Straussians have identified fundamental crises of modernity and liberal democracy. This book emphasizes the broad range of Strauss's influence, from literary criticism to constitutional thought, and it denies the existence of a monolithic Straussian political orthodoxy. Both critics and supporters of Strauss' thought are included. All political theorists interested in Strauss's extraordinary impact on political thought will want to read this book.


Book Synopsis Leo Strauss, The Straussians, and the Study of the American Regime by : Kenneth L. Deutsch

Download or read book Leo Strauss, The Straussians, and the Study of the American Regime written by Kenneth L. Deutsch and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 1999-09-28 with total page 467 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Responding to volatile criticisms frequently leveled at Leo Strauss and those he influenced, the prominent contributors to this volume demonstrate the profound influence that Strauss and his students have exerted on American liberal democracy and contemporary political thought. By stressing the enduring vitality of classic books and by articulating the theoretical and practical flaws of relativism and historicism, the contributors argue that Strauss and the Straussians have identified fundamental crises of modernity and liberal democracy. This book emphasizes the broad range of Strauss's influence, from literary criticism to constitutional thought, and it denies the existence of a monolithic Straussian political orthodoxy. Both critics and supporters of Strauss' thought are included. All political theorists interested in Strauss's extraordinary impact on political thought will want to read this book.