The Mind and Art of Abraham Lincoln, Philosopher Statesman
Texts and Interpretations of Twenty Great Speeches
By (author) David Lowenthal
Publication date:
09 February 2012Length of book:
296 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksDimensions:
229x152mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9780739171264
By analyzing many of Lincoln's most important speeches, The Mind and Art of Abraham Lincoln, Philosopher Statesman shows him to be a profound and systematic thinker who tries to get at the root of issues, not all of them strictly political. Lowenthal emphasizes Lincoln's manner of writing, which enables him to conceal his most radical thoughts, and pays special attention to the reasoning and artfulness with which he treats a wide variety of subjects. The book follows Lincoln from his Perpetuation or Lyceum address in 1838 to his last speech just after Lee's surrender, as he confronts the great issues of the day and lays out the fundamentals of American politics. Along the way, Lowenthal's careful analysis frees Lincoln of the charge of racial prejudice with which he has been saddled in recent years.
In David Lowenthal’s Lincoln, we encounter a statesman whose fierce intellectual independence was matched by a deep sympathy for political friends and foes alike. His Lincoln displays a strikingly free and agile mind long before he was elevated to the presidency. Lowenthal’s fresh interpretations of both familiar and obscure writings of Lincoln force us to pay attention to aspects of Lincoln’s political and philosophical thought, especially regarding religion, long overlooked or simply not noticed. He demonstrates that Lincoln’s insights about the American regime derived from a profound analysis of the premises of self-government and challenges of living as a free people. Along the way, the reader learns what is entailed in choosing to live as a self-governing people—what it takes to be free and to maintain that freedom from generation to generation.