A reading group focused on the role of the virtues in democratic life. We will examine the influence of the ancient tradition of political republicanism, which maintained that civic virtue among the rulers and the ruled was essential for the preservation of freedom, on American thought, as well as arguments that the egalitarian logic of American democracy requires a fundamental rethinking of the nature of the virtues and their role in public life. The authors discussed will include John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and Frederick Douglass.

Led by Justin Hawkins, this reading group is open to Yale students. Space is limited; to sign up or for more information please contact Peter Wicks.