Hannah Vincent
Professor Gareau
PHIL 201
May 1, 2014
The Philosophy of the Founding Fathers
Throughout time, philosophers try to encompass the human thoughts and desires that
occupy each of us. From ancient Greece, to medieval thinkers, to the founding fathers of
America, documents and papers serve as the interpretations of the human heart and mind, and
these tie in with the both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United
States of America. The words of both documents show the natural needs of the American people.
Philosophy requires conscientious thoughts of these needs, and the statement, “We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness”, holds a thought that goes so deep it becomes the foundation for a Constitution. This
foundation contains ideas, ideas which become meanings, and help each citizen to think about
the power they wield in the philosophy of democracy.
The comprehension and the philosophy of the documents came from hundreds to
thousands of years before the founding fathers, with the ancient Greek and medieval
philosophers, the starters of intellectual thinking along with the pursuit of truth. Plato saw
freedom in a different light as the founding fathers, in that he preferred an aristocratic society,
and saw democracy as one the last choices to run a country, with tyranny being the worst. For
Plato, democracy was a degeneration, because equality was pursued. “All this political equality
and freedom stem from a soul whose order has been shattered” (Stumpf pg. 75). People want
freedom because they do not know what they want.
For Aristotle, the concept of aristocracy as the preferred form of government aligned
itself with that of Plato’s. Aristocracy only allowed those to rule who had many years of
studying, knowledge, and experience. Yet, “Aristotle also believed in the equality of citizenship”
(Stumpf pg. 104). Each citizen had their own rights, and were to have a voice in the procedures
of the government. Even then, the citizen that participated in government had to show good
temperament and character. This type of freedom was a controlled type.
In order to have a controlled freedom one man would ascend higher in government than
all others, and this is the monarch-king. Aristotle’s Politics section in History of Philosophy
states, “. . . the ideal is that one man should so transcend all the other citizens individually . . .”
(Copleston pg. 355). The United States does not have a monarch king, but we have the freedom
as a democracy to vote in a leader who is educated in America’s affairs and politics. This man or
woman is supposed to carry out his or her duties responsibly and with the natural happiness of
citizens in mind.
Natural happiness comes from the specific liberty and freedom we exercise in our lives.
Augustine and Aquinas both speak of two types of freedom, the freedom of license and the
freedom of liberty. We have the basic right of freedom that is in the Declaration, but it is how we
choose the freedom that helps in shaping our lives and happiness. Augustine in Stumpf’s book
that, “. . . all humanity still possess the freedom of the will . . . true spiritual liberty is no longer
possible in its fullness in this life . . . a person must have the help of God’s grace.” (Stumpf pg.
147). When we choose freedom of license, we do not partake in the true understanding of
freedom. The freedom of liberty, to do as we ought according to the laws of God and those laws
of man which follow the laws of God, we find true understanding of freedom.
Freedom comes with a heavy responsibility, loaded with choices and decisions that need
careful discernment. The Declaration states that in being free from a monarchy and given a voice
as a nation, then that voice must be educated. As free states, each mind gives an opinion, one that
cannot often recognize the difference between perceptual and conceptual thought. Ten
Philosophical Mistakes by Mortimer J. Adler, states that in other words, “…between perceiving
the sensible and objects that we encounter in everyday experience and thinking about objects that
cannot be perceived or imagined” (Adler pg.17). Being given the freedom to possess original
thought clouds judgment sometimes into thinking an idea can be reached, even when it cannot.
Though a democracy encourages opinions, the deeper meaning and the philosophy of these
thoughts will not be seen because of the lack of proper understanding.
This lack of proper understanding seen in much of today’s society did not coincide with
the founding fathers’ thoughts about democracy and how America should be run. They had a
vision, one that was grounded in the beginnings of philosophy in the ancient and medieval times.
They vision was formed from an idea, and Mortimer Adler states that, “…the root of these errors
lies in the failure to recognize that ideas are meanings” (Adler pg. 17). As a modern society we
do not think, act, or speak the way America or the philosophers of old once did, and because of
that the meaning, or purpose, that is in the Declaration is not correctly taught or known.
In the Declaration, the freedom and meaning that is spoken of is not to be taken lightly.
Freedom, in fact, should be pondered on and thought about extensively. Mortimer J. Adler points
out that political liberty is another circumstantial freedom. It is only a freedom because we live
in America. We are not to simply lay back and take freedom for granted even if it is
circumstantial. As a country, America has the right to defend Itself, and the line, “But when a
long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to
reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such
Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security,” explains this.
Over the years, between highs and lows in the American system, the citizens have
allowed their freedom to control their thinking and philosophy. As a country, we do not have the
same drive or philosophy the founding fathers had, nor the same insights. Individualism and
one’s security of so called happiness is what is pursued. Adler speaks of this as well, noting that
one of the many common mistakes now in thinking and philosophy is the security of the material
world. People truly think that possessions make them happy or give them peace of mind instead
of a skilled mind and higher way of living. This leads into the Constitution, and the philosophy
behind it.
The Constitution is a series of articles that serve to protect our country and limit the
amount of power for those in government. Like the Declaration, the Constitution comes from a
long tradition of philosophers who the most ideal way to run a country. Beginning in ancient
Greece, the philosopher Protagoras said in Philosophy: History and Problems, 5th Edition, that
“the idea of law reflects a general desire in each culture for a moral order among all people”
(Stumpf pg. 32). For him, “the state makes the laws and that these laws should be accepted by
everyone because they are as good as any that can be made” (Stumpf pg. 32). Laws then, for
Protagoras, are only as good as who makes them. However, Thrasymachus says that, “Laws . . .
are made by the ruling party for its own interest” (Stumpf pg. 34).
In his works, Aristotle said that “. . . the state exists for the sake of everyone’s moral and
intellectual fulfillment” (Stumpf pg. 105). He clearly expresses that the state does not make laws
for the only good of the elite or ruling party, but for the good of every citizen. St. Augustine
picks this up in his writings as he says, “. . . the law was . . . given that grace might be sought. . .”
(Stumpf pg. 147). Any law can tell a person what they can or cannot do, and Augustine reflected
upon this. When laws are moral, they guide a person closer to God.
When given these moral laws, they are easy to grasp. In our human nature, we can
understand that we should do right by every person. A law, when it is made, should follow this
inclination to do right, and in the words of Augustine, “. . . such temporal laws must be in accord
with the principle of natural law, which in turn is derived from the eternal law” (Stumpf pg. 148).
If a law is not in accord with ultimately God’s law, it suffers and leaves a country lacking. Laws
should be channeled from God through eternal law, to natural law, then temporal law.
Aquinas expanded further on Augustine’s thought, and discovered four main laws. The
eternal law, natural law, human law, and divine law. Each has a place in society, whether the
citizens know it or not, and each comes from God. Eternal law is that which God keeps the
universe alive; natural law, the laws by which humans live and flourish; human law, those that
countries and states put together to govern; and divine law, the laws that come from scripture.
“The function of law”, Aquinas said, “is to direct people to their proper end” (Stumpf pg. 192).
Also within Copleston’s History of Philosophy, Aquinas says, “. . . it is necessary that
law should properly be concerned with the common happiness . . .” (Copleston pg. 417), and “. .
. St. Thomas also insists that he who seeks the common good of the multitude seeks his own
good as well . . .” (Copleston pg. 418). The Constitution clearly explains the duties of the
representatives and the senate for the United States, in order to keep it safe and its citizens safe.
The ultimate goal of those in charge in government should be the welfare of the people, and not
only the welfare of those running the government.
However, if those running the government prove to be lacking in their duties or are
becoming tyrannical in their position, Aquinas points out it is the right of the people to take
action. “. . . deposition of a tyrant is legitimate . . . the people do no wrong in deposing the tyrant
. . . for he has deserved deposition by not keeping faith with his subjects” (Copleston pg. 420).
The Declaration also says, “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism; it is their right, it is
their duty, to throw off such a Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
For the founding fathers, law was a way to ensure the common good, happiness, and
security of others. As Adler points out, “A just government can the aid and abet the pursuit of
happiness on the part of its people by securing their natural rights to the real goods they need—
life, liberty, and whatever else an individual needs . . .” (Adler pg. 135). He also states in his
Aristotle for Everyone that “One human being is neither more nor less human than another . . . all
human beings are equal as humans” (Adler pg. 125). The articles that are in the Constitution are
for the good of the people, to take care of their natural needs as equals. They serve as protection
from those who wish to deny a person their basic rights.
Every person, from the ancient time of Aristotle and Plato to Aquinas and Augustine, to
Mortimer J. Adler, deserves a society and country where they can express their freedom and
equality in a way that is healthy and safe. The Constitution and Declaration of Independence help
to shape the thoughts and teachings of thousands of years into a few pages, and they give us a
model on how to live our lives and what we deserve as citizens.
Bibliography
Adler, Mortimer J. Aristotle For Everyone (Handout) Ten Philosophical Mistakes. New York,
New York: Touchstone, 1985. Print.
Copleston. History of Philosophy (Handout)
Stumpf. Philosophy: History and Problems, 5th Edition. McGraw Hill Education. 2014. Print.