Customer Reviews

Natural Rights and the New Republicanism

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This is a profound and important work. Zuckert analyzes in depth the history and development of republican ideology, revealing much that is new and refuting much that has been assumed in the past. He identifies three distinct strains of republican thought, Protestant, Grotian, and Lockean. He conducts an in depth examination of John Milton and Hugo Grotius, with special emphasis on their similarities with Locke. In addition, he rebuts a good deal of the inane nonsense that has been passed off as ideological scholarship for the past three decades. In particular, he virtually destroys the theories of J.G.A. Pocock and his band of followes, including Gordon Wood. On a side note, he manages to rescue Bernard Bailyn from his categorization as a "Republican revisionist" by showing how much he really differs from Pocock et al. Following this, he painstakingly examines John Locke's thought. His findings are fresh and challenging. More importantly, he explains just how original he was and subsequently just why he was so important. To top it all off, he takes a look a"Cato's Letters," showing how the authors managed to synthesize Lockean liberalism with republicanism, producing one of the most brilliant works in the history of political philosophy. Despite its general brilliance, I do have some misgivings about certain aspects of the work. Although I certainly acknowledge the importance of Lockean ideas, I have to say that Lockean ideas are not necessarily found in Locke alone. One individual in particular, Algernon Sidney, expressed many Lockean ideas before Locke, and his works were widely influential throughout England and America. Beyond this and a few other quibbles, this book is virtually flawless. If one is interested in the issues at hand, this work is an absolute must.

Zuckert's book covers three different topics: the philosophical meaning of the Declaration of Independence's paragraphs regarding natural rights; Jefferson's personal views on natural rights; and the interplay between Locke's natural rights philosophy, the Whig political tradition, the Pilgrim/Puritan tradition and classical republican thought in the history and philosophy of America's founders. Zuckert argues cogently that natural rights philosophy was the strongest motivating force in the founders' view. Zuckert's book presumes some knowledge, but sets forth arguments thoroughly enough for the non-expert to understand. He also writes clear prose. All in all, an excellent book for anyone interested in the history or philosophy of the American founding.

this book was hard to understand. everyone thinks Mr. Zuckert is very good at being smart and at saying smart things. This is probably true, he seems very smart. But he should act less smart in his undergraduate government courses, it alienates his students. thank you