Optimism as Certainty

Before entering the world of the dualist philosopher, we need to examine Jefferson’s unabated optimism. It might seem paradoxical, after all the arguments made in the previous chapter, but Jefferson often championed unabated optimism. The Enlightenment and all its tensions were periodically belied b...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Limits of Optimism p. 32
Main Author Maurizio Valsania
Format Book Chapter
LanguageEnglish
Published University of Virginia Press 03.08.2011
Subjects
Agriculture
American studies
Animals
Anthropology
Axiology
Behavioral sciences
Biological sciences
Biology
Cities
Enlightenment
Esotericism
Ethics
Ethnography
Ethnology
Farming
Farming systems
History of the Americas
Human geography
Humans
Jeffersonianism
Mammals
Metropolitan areas
Morality
Normative ethics
North American history
Optimism
Personality
Personality psychology
Personality traits
Philosophy
Political change
Political geography
Political movements
Political philosophy
Political processes
Political revolutions
Political science
Political sociology
Politics
Practical theology
Primates
Psychology
Religion
Religious experience philosophy
Social contract
Social sciences
State of nature
Subsistence farming
Theology
United States history
Zoology
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Before entering the world of the dualist philosopher, we need to examine Jefferson’s unabated optimism. It might seem paradoxical, after all the arguments made in the previous chapter, but Jefferson often championed unabated optimism. The Enlightenment and all its tensions were periodically belied by this type of optimism, unabated, unshakable, and unswerving. It had little in common with the kind of optimism we encounter in the following chapter. As a man of the Enlightenment, Jefferson was never at rest. He was always trying, tinkering, and experimenting. Pulling up and tearing down became customary habits of this enlightened Virginian, not limited