Reading Group

Liberty in American Thought

Is there a central concept of freedom that marks American political thought, or are there many? Are appeals to freedom philosophically interesting or mere rhetoric? This reading group will examine influential debates about the nature of freedom in American political thought. We will read selections from the American colonial period, David Walker, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Milton Friedman, Eugene Debs, and others. 

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.

Thursdays, 12.001.30

Jan 29 | Colonial Liberty
Feb 5 | Religious Liberty
Feb 12 | Liberty and Abolition
Feb 19 | Liberty and Representation
Feb 26 | Liberty and Economics

All things real are so by so much virtue as they contain.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”

Eastman Johnson, A Ride for Liberty (ca. 1862)