Original scientific paper
Thomas Jefferson and Political Philosophy
Šefko Kurtović
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The author writes about Jefferson's political philosophy. There is no text by Jefferson which would set out a certain political issue. There are numerous texts of his, written in the course of fifty years, but a collage made up out of them would not amount to a political theory or a doctrine. Jefferson was not interested in theoretical but solely technical and practical issues. This makes him a typical 18th century lawyer of the common law vein. Common law of that time was an amateur area, devoid of any technical or professional expertise and part of general moral principles. Jefferson was deft at formulating the widely-held ideaso of his time, embracing some century-old well known political truths by Grotius, Milton, Locke and Burlamaqui. The author suggests that Jefferson was first and foremost a statesman, and his judgements were politically tainted. Nevertheless, he was the most educated statesman ever among American presidents.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
111001
URI
Publication date:
1.6.1994.
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