The Limits of Optimism: Thomas Jefferson's Dualistic Enlightenment (Jeffersonian America)

The Limits of Optimism works to dispel persistent notions about Jefferson's allegedly paradoxical and sphinx-like quality. Maurizio Valsania shows that Jefferson's multifaceted character and personality are to a large extent the logical outcome of an anti-metaphysical, enlightened, and humility-oriented approach to reality. That Jefferson's mind and priorities changed over time and in response to changing circumstances indicates neither incoherence, hypocrisy, nor pathology. Valsania's reading of Jefferson, the Enlightenment, and negativity helps to make sense of the many paradoxes typically associated with that eighteenth-century thinker. At the same time, it provides a corrective to the common though erroneous equation of Enlightenment thinking with rationalism and shallow optimism. This investigation of the philosophy and writings of Thomas Jefferson anaylzes the enlightenment foundations of his political thought. It seeks to dispel impressions of contradictions in the statesman's belief system by exploring key principles, such as his enlightenment stance that worked against undue optimism and hubris, and his historical knowledge that political experiments failed as often as succeeded. It presents a view of Jefferson as a pragmatic statesman who understood the value of dialectic growth and the ability to shift positions as experience dictated __The Limits of Optimism__Valsania's reading of Jefferson, the Enlightenment, and negativity helps to make sense of the many paradoxes typically associated with that eighteenth-century thinker. At the same time, it provides a corrective to the common though erroneous equation of Enlightenment thinking with rationalism and shallow optimism. Enlightenment And Dualism -- Optimism As Certainty -- From Faith To Hope -- Nature And Time As Overwhelming Powers -- Impossibility And Despondency -- Dream, Imagination, And Expediency. Maurizio Valsania. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.