America And Enlightenment Constitutionalism

by O'Neill, Johnathan; McDowell, Gary L.

• ISBN13: 9781403972361
• ISBN10: 1403972362
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-09-19
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

America and Enlightenment Constitutionalism shows in detail the Enlightenment origin of the U.S. Constitution. It provides vivid analysis of how the Enlightenment's basic ideas were reformulated in the context of America. It is particularly successful in bringing out the competing strains of Enlightenment thought and of articulating crucial Enlightenment concepts of public opinion, equality, public reason, legislature and judiciary, revolution, law, and the people in their American context. The collection is timely given contemporary debates between republicans and liberals about constitutional interpretation which are addressed throughout.

Author Biography

Johnathan O’Neill is Assistant Professor of History at Georgia Southern University, and the author of Originalism in American Law and Politics: A Constitutional History (2005).Gary McDowell is Professor, Jepson School of Leadership, University of Richmond.

Table of Contents

Introduction--Gary L. McDowell &Johnathan O’Neill * Part I: Enlightenment Philosophy and Constitutionalism * Recovering (From) Enlightenment?--Steven D. Smith * The Positivization of Natural Rights--Martin Loughlin * Epicureanism and the Enlightenment--Frederick Rosen * Preface to Liberalism: Locke’s First Treatise and the Bible--Robert Faulkner * Montesquieu and the Constitution of Liberty--Paul A. Rahe * Part II: The Enlightenment and the Constitution in America * The American Enlightenment--Gordon S. Wood * Enlightenment and Experience: The Virginia Constitution of 1776--Colin Bonwick * Nation-Making and the American Constitutional Process--J.R. Pole * Ticklish Experiments: The Paradox of American Constitutionalism--Jack Rakove * James Madison and the Idea of Fundamental Law--C. Bradley Thompson

Introduction--Gary L. McDowell &Johnathan O’Neill * Part I: Enlightenment Philosophy and Constitutionalism * Recovering (From) Enlightenment?--Steven D. Smith * The Positivization of Natural Rights--Martin Loughlin * Epicureanism and the Enlightenment--Frederick Rosen * Preface to Liberalism: Locke’s First Treatise and the Bible--Robert Faulkner * Montesquieu and the Constitution of Liberty--Paul A. Rahe * Part II: The Enlightenment and the Constitution in America * The American Enlightenment--Gordon S. Wood * Enlightenment and Experience: The Virginia Constitution of 1776--Colin Bonwick * Nation-Making and the American Constitutional Process--J.R. Pole * Ticklish Experiments: The Paradox of American Constitutionalism--Jack Rakove * James Madison and the Idea of Fundamental Law--C. Bradley Thompson