Clearly argued and written. . . . Arcenas convincingly demonstrates that colonists looked to Locke for guidance on matters involving child rearing and self-development, knowledge and its foundation, ways to read the Bible, and moral education, not so much as a guide to political principles. The text that early and mid-twentieth-century historians and political theorists such as Merle Curti, Carl Becker and Louis Hartz defined as the core of Lockean philosophy, the Two Treatises of Government , was not unknown to colonists, but it took a decided backseat to the Locke who reinvented the human mind, and when colonists went looking for political principles, Locke also took a backseat to Montesquieu and many others.
Modern Intellectual History
America’s Philosopher accomplishes two tasks at once: it brings to life the fullness of John Locke’s thought and tracks the multiple ways a dynamic and changing America engaged with varying aspects of that thought. Arcenas shows how the early modern British philosopher’s place in American thought and culture shifted over three centuries, from a cherished guide to child-rearing, education, and toleration in the eighteenth century to a one-dimensional libertarian hero in our own day. Drawing on common-place books and college curricula, the work of mid-century scholars and the speeches of senators, Arcenas tells this fascinating story with clarity and verve.
Dartmouth College Leslie A. Butler
"Arcenas has done valuable work in documenting Americans’ affection for an empiricist philosopher. Her discussion of twentieth-century scholarly debates over Locke’s significance, from Leo Strauss to J.G.A. Pocock, are accurate and well-expressed."
"Arcenas’s thesis in this book is that John Locke 'stands—and has always stood—at the center of American intellectual life' (p.1), and that, paradoxically, his true significance to America has often been mischaracterized. . . . The book is enhanced with copious notes and an extensive bibliography. . . . Recommended."
Original and surprising.
"Remarkable. . . In America’s Philosopher , Professor Arcenas has produced an entertaining and insightful book of political historiography that enlivens America’s intellectual past and stimulates thinking about its present."
Montana The Magazine of Western History
A wonderfully wide-ranging and insightful history of John Locke’s changing reputation in America, moving from the early eighteenth century to the present with terrific scholarly command and authority. Locke’s invention, more than a century after the fact, as the key political theorist of the American Revolution is only the most striking of its findings. This book will surprise and inform every reader invested in the history of American political culture. There is simply nothing comparable in the existing literature.
Princeton University Daniel Rodgers
"Groundbreaking. . . we can and should value this book for making an impressive case for how each generation of Americans has read [Locke] with its own politically distorting lenses."
"Arcenas’s work is eye-opening. She unveils the true role of Locke, a popular figure since colonial times, in shaping American society. Arcenas’s investigation takes us on a journey through archives, newspapers, syllabi, diaries, philosophy, history, theology, and so on, to illustrate the undeniable influence that Locke had on America’s identity."
The Independent Review - Mario I. Juarez-Garcia
As Arcenas [shows], with detailed documentation and persuasive narrative . . . Americans deformed and truncated [Locke into] the alleged father of liberalism . . . With regard to ‘Locke’s polyvalent influence,’ Arcenas argues that for two centuries after his death he was almost omnipresent in colonial libraries, college reading lists, and periodical polemics, and almost as well known for counsel on card-playing and commonplacing as for epistemology or educational prescriptions.
Times Literary Supplement
"Groundbreaking. . . we can and should value this book for making an impressive case for how each generation of Americans has read [Locke] with its own politically distorting lenses."-- "Chronicles Magazine"Two Treatises of Government , was not unknown to colonists, but it took a decided backseat to the Locke who reinvented the human mind, and when colonists went looking for political principles, Locke also took a backseat to Montesquieu and many others."-- "Modern Intellectual History"America's Philosopher , Professor Arcenas has produced an entertaining and insightful book of political historiography that enlivens America's intellectual past and stimulates thinking about its present."-- "Montana The Magazine of Western History"America's Philosopher accomplishes two tasks at once: it brings to life the fullness of John Locke's thought and tracks the multiple ways a dynamic and changing America engaged with varying aspects of that thought. Arcenas shows how the early modern British philosopher's place in American thought and culture shifted over three centuries, from a cherished guide to child-rearing, education, and toleration in the eighteenth century to a one-dimensional libertarian hero in our own day. Drawing on common-place books and college curricula, the work of mid-century scholars and the speeches of senators, Arcenas tells this fascinating story with clarity and verve."-- "Leslie A. Butler, Dartmouth College"
If you thought you understood John Locke’s vital role in American thought, Arcenas’s fascinating book will make your jaw drop. Make no mistake, Locke has indeed been ‘America’s philosopher’ since his ideas first arrived in the early eighteenth century. But as readers will discover in her meticulously researched and absorbing study, Locke has mattered to Americans in ways wholly unexpected.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen
