Commentary on the Constitution from Plato to Rousseau

By (author) Joshua B. Stein Contributions by Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad

Not available to order

Publication date:

16 September 2011

Length of book:

376 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9780739167601

In an age where scholars, lawyers, judges and just plain folk debate the original intent of the U.S. Constitution, Commentary on the Constitution from Plato to Rousseau demonstrates that the issues confronting the founders—as well as issues of understanding what the founders intended—can be traced back to antiquity. Stein looks at 14 historical figures who—by their words and/or deeds—set the stage for political thought before the constitution was written. All the subjects of this book deal as best they can with questions of the relationship between executive and other branches of government; all deal with the role of religion in government; all deal with how much (if any) democracy should be allowed in determining fundamental law and day-to-day governance; all engaged in the thought experiment of asking what life was like before government, and therefore why government was instituted; all deal with the relationship of central authority and provincial (states') rights; all seek to avoid tyranny. Commentary on the Constitution from Plato to Rousseau is not about what the founders took from previous thinkers and political figures; it is a book that allows the reader to consider the U.S. Constitution while learning about people whose genius has transcended time, from Plato to Rousseau.

Introduction
Chapter I: Plato on the United States Constitution
Chapter II: Aristotle on the United States Constitution
Chapter III: Cicero on the American Constitution
Chapter IV: Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) on the U.S. Constitution
Chapter V: Muhammad on the U.S. Constitution
Chapter VI: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II Von Hohenstaufen, Stupor Mundi
Chapter VII: Dante Alighieri on the U.S. Constitution
Chapter VIII: Niccolò Machiavelli on the U.S. Constitution
Chapter IX: Sir Thomas More on the U.S. Constitution
Chapter X: Desiderius Erasmus on the U.S. Constitution
Chapter XI: Thomas Hobbes on the U.S. Constitution
Chapter XII: John Locke on the U.S. Constitution
Chapter XIII: Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu 1689-1755
Chapter XIV: Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778
Chapter XV: Conclusion
Works Consulted

By placing the U.S. Constitution in conversation with its intellectual ancestors, Stein has produced a volume of remarkable historical scope and relevance. Students and scholars alike will see the American political system-including matters of church and state, the limits of democracy, and minority rights- with fresh eyes after reading Stein's lively and engaging work.