Abstract

As part of the series Classics in the History of Thought, this volume is more general than its companion volume, American Philosophy in the Twentieth Century. The present volume is suited for a study in American Civilization prior to the twentieth century. Its range includes the political, religious, and moral thoughts of the colonial period ; the post-Independence period of "Reason and Revolution" ; conservatism in political theory and philosophy ; transcendentalism ; speculative and absolute idealism ; evolution and Darwinism. There are interesting historical foundations for some contemporary social problems found in these selections, e.g., civil disobedience, church and state relations, racial prejudice. Also, as in the case of its sister volume, the book is rich in bibliographical references.—J. J. R.