tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post1509504880937933515..comments2024-03-27T18:18:11.525-06:00Comments on American Creation: Jefferson on the EnlightenmentBrad Harthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17669677047039491864noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-56309365854588070752012-01-13T16:05:50.128-07:002012-01-13T16:05:50.128-07:00Jefferson was a reactionary. By this I mean, his p...Jefferson was a reactionary. By this I mean, his philosophies were largely responses to his European intellectual counterparts. So as far as enlightenment thinking goes, Jefferson was a proponent of both the positive and negative aspects of the movement. In fact, in his Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson used enlightenment notions to rationalize scientific racism. He did so as a response to Raynal’s contention that most things American were inferior to their European counterparts.Stephanie Reedhttp://reedhistory.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-85478226665712826912012-01-06T14:09:17.475-07:002012-01-06T14:09:17.475-07:00Oh, I agree -- Jefferson always has an agenda. He...Oh, I agree -- Jefferson always has an agenda. He is untrustworthy in virtually everything he writes, and never so more as when pronouncing about the Enlightenment. But I think that Jefferson's sentiment here fits with a more broadly shared idea about progress that many of the Founders held. My earlier post on Washington's Circular Letter discusses how Washington thought that human society had been getting progressive better as well. For Washington that was due in large part to the Revelation, while for Jefferson the improvement was due to the advance of science and the arts, but they both -- in different times and circumstances -- evidenced a belief in the notion that human beings were improving.Mark D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05000893614655251587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-64287365828693074512012-01-06T12:01:08.381-07:002012-01-06T12:01:08.381-07:00I don't really trust Jefferson on these things...I don't really trust Jefferson on these things: he's got an agenda.<br /><br />BTW, Leonardo da Vinci worked for the Borgias, so there's that.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com