Thomas Paine

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the political, religious and social philosophies of Thomas Paine and describes the impact that they had on the world then and continue to have today. It discusses the role that he played in both the American and French revolutions, while simultaneously attempting to garner the budding revolutionary movements within England. The papers also looks at why his ideas were so successful.

From the Paper:

"Paine's essays and speeches still hold their compelling power today. Much of the reason for this is that he was not a philosopher who attempted to build his theories of justice, morality, knowledge, and society from the ground-up; instead, he held several appealing principles, from which he was capable of deconstructing the morally reprehensible institutions around the world. These principles included equality, freedom, belief in God, charity towards others, and the gift of reason. Altogether, these were very attractive concepts in his time, and remain so to this day. For the most part, they are ideas so intuitively pure and beautiful, that they do not require rigorous philosophical investigation to believe that they should probably be sought after. So although David Hume may have been successful in debasing the belief that we can ever truly know what morality or justice are, Paine was able to indicate exactly what they should be. He was a great man not only for this, but for convincing millions of people that these values exist as something worthy to build society upon. Though they could potentially be logically invalid, it would be a mistake to fight for anything other than what Thomas Paine fought for."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ayer, A. J. Thomas Paine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
• Burke, Edmund. The Philosophy of Edmund Burke. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1960.
• Foner, Philip S. The Life and Major Writings of Thomas Paine. Secaucus: The Citadel Press, 1974.
• Hawke, David F. Paine. New York: Harper & Row, 1974.
• Keane, John. Tom Paine: A Political Life. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1995.

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