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Thomas Jefferson Metaphysical Idealist Analysis

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It is evident in this particular writing, and many others, that Jefferson is a metaphysical idealist. He invokes Nature’s God as being the giver of law and the rights of man. In being so given by God, a right is personally held as property which cannot be abridged and is such an important gift that it ‘impels them to separate’ from those who might fetter these things. The gift is held by all mankind equally and separately, not as a whole; keeping with Jefferson’s views on property rights. Truth is ‘self-evident’, all mankind is ‘created equal’, and are granted ‘unalienable rights’. Government is a tool created by the people and with their consent and subject to abolishment should it fail to serve mankind. These ideas were revolutionary, inflammatory …show more content…

His religion was Christianity, stripped of the miracles, the Trinity and the divinity of Christ. That a moral compass was given to most of mankind and that man was responsible to use it to do what is right. He was a believer in ‘natural law’ which mankind might know from the prompting of conscience, which he equated with the other physical senses we know of. Jefferson considered Jesus to be the greatest of all the religious reformers and he wrote of the morality of the teachings of Jesus. Jefferson considered his religion to consist of belief in a single god, an afterlife of reward and punishment and loving one’s neighbor as self. These are the grand tenants of Jeffersonian religion. As for the aforementioned organization of religion, Jefferson was opposed and considered such to be coercive of the rights and freedoms of mankind. Thus, his desire to create a freedom of religious thought without enshrining a mandate or litmus test concerning religious belief in government or as far as rights are protected or acknowledged. Jefferson’s philosophy on religion, as with many other areas, were derived from his thought experiments. He reasoned his philosophy out of an educated mind, and although we can identify its underpinnings, much of his philosophy is considered unique. He was an empiricist in this regard, attempting to prove argument by assertion of sense and logic.

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495 Words | 2 Pages

Our third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, had great intentions when he was elected into the presidency. The actions that took place during his eight years in office reflect the principles that Jefferson believed in, and that is what he wanted to achieve. One of Jefferson’s beliefs was having an agricultural-based economy and life, rather than commerce and federal power. “He believed a person who owned a farm and worked the land would be economically independent, and that independence would develop and preserve wisdom, self-control, courage, and fortitude.

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“That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” (Jefferson 120). This man believed the same as hobbes, that there needed to be something to control and regulate what was needed for a population to live

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The Enlightenment views were influenced in Jefferson's Declaration. The most obvious one was Jefferson's deist view of God, which interpreted God in a scientific way rather than in a supernatural way. In the Declaration, he declared that it was the "nature's God" that gave them the rights to separate from the government. He did not say that it was a Catholic's God or a Protestant's God, but a God that belonged to the nature. By doing so, he was able to encompass all the people that were in the colonial states at the time.

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Jefferson regarded "the people who work in the earth" the "picked people of God . . . whose chests he has made his whimsical store for extensive and true blue morals." He provoked his confidants to "let our work-shops remain in

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Luis Sevilla For: Dr. Stephens History 1301 42T 12 October 2015 Review #2 Does Thomas Jefferson come across as a great man, or a petty one? That is all based on opinion. From the little that is taught about Thomas Jefferson he comes across as a great man. Jefferson is not only known as a founding father he is also a big symbol in American History

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Jefferson presented his views based on rational thinking and intuitions. It was his personal belief that Indian and whites are equal in all aspects of life. He did not presented his arguments based on facts and figures. As Jefferson wrote in his letter that “I have seen some thousands myself, and conversed much with them, and have found in them a masculine, sound understanding.” It noticeably shows that it was belief of Jefferson that Indians and whites possess the same masculine strength and power.

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533 Words | 3 Pages

Jefferson believed that a separation of church and state was necessary because a person’s religion was his or her own business. In his response to a letter from the Danbury Baptist Association, he agrees with the committee stating that “religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship.” Some people take this to mean that Jefferson thought it was wrong for a nation to have a national church or faith to be enforced on its citizens. Others, however, believe he meant that religion should be left out of government altogether.

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635 Words | 3 Pages

The Religious Freedom policy also influenced the colonies and the formation of the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson from the colony of Virginia was the primary architect of his state’s religious freedom model. In Britain, there was limited religious freedom through an established church known as the Church of England. A portion of taxes would go to the official state religion even if you were not a member of that church. In Virginia, they decide on freedom to exercise which, the other colonies and Britain had to some extent but they took the extra step and said that government should "not establish religion" so no government taxes for any religious groups.

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762 Words | 4 Pages

In this document, Jefferson declared the need to separate from the British Empire and voiced the opinion of many Americans views about our rights as humans. Additionally, Jefferson believes that God created every man with rights no one can take away, the right to live, the right to freedom, and the right the pursue happiness. Jefferson goes on to argue, that we the people have rights that cannot be taken away and it is the right of the people to abolish such a government, which tries to take away our God given rights. In support of Thomas Jefferson, the ideal government should be designed and ran for the people, and judged by how effectively it secures the rights of the people while promoting happiness and equality. The government is the only foundation that can make our rights of justice, liberty, and equality, become reality.

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The American government acts as the beating heart of the body. The heart allows blood to flow throughout the whole system. Without a heart, blood would remain unable to move as a collective whole. Both authority and its citizens must work simultaneously; one cannot function without the other. Jefferson expands upon the symbiotic relationship and reveals the ideal partnership between the people’s rights and the state.

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Thomas Jefferson desired a democracy where governmental decisions would not be affected by religious beliefs and biased views of the situation. Thomas Jefferson viewed separation of church and state here is some of his insight on the topic, “...legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, ' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties” (Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists). Jefferson became the sole author for the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which became the the most important religious separationist papers of the 1700’s. Jefferson’s ideas and writings for separation of church and state helped to form the American Enlightenment period, and to further his ideals based upon his

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711 Words | 3 Pages

For one, his allusion also acts as a appeal to logos since it creates an relatability and accountability for his audience, as he backs up his information using a common religion and God. Jefferson uses an appeal to pathos to get a rise of emotion out of his audience. By doing so, he states “He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people”. Jefferson explaining all the “wrong-doings”, so to say, of Great Britain, it makes his audience more passionate about being an independent country.

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435 Words | 2 Pages

He says "The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves- in their separate, and individual capacities. " Throughout the quote, he is saying that the government isn 't meant to help its citizens maintain peace and establish justice. The reality is, is that the government plays a huge role in making our everyday lives better, which is why we are not at war everyday with another country or settling a feud between states. This furthermore supports Jefferson 's claim that a government is established to ensure peace and protect its citizens rights.

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Introduction: While freedom as a concept feels fairly intuitive, nuances in interpretation can change the basis of an argument. John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government and Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America do not define liberty in precisely the same way, which in turn guides two different visions in how a government should function. When examining a core concept in an argument, it is important to inquire to whether its treatment is adequate. Is either definition of liberty sufficient, and does either author’s envisioned government adequately address liberty in that system? This paper will argue that Locke’s definition of liberty remains in the literal sphere while Tocqueville’s is more conceptual, but neither Locke’s nor Tocqueville’s

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902 Words | 4 Pages

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. This statement by the Founding Fathers is the core disagreement between the 13 Colonies and Great Britain. Throughout this historical document, there are multiple arguments made to get the authors’ point across. The authors’ effectively use logos, ethos, and pathos to contribute to the formation of the concluding argument. Logos is used because the thesis is straight to the point and it is supported throughout the entire document.

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