For more than three centuries, the English philosopher John Locke has captivated Americans. In America’s Philosopher: John Locke in American Intellectual Life, Claire Rydell Arcenas shows that, although Locke has always played a central role in American life, the nature of that role has changed dramatically over time. Between the eighteenth century and today, Americans transformed Locke-once known to them primarily as an epistemologist and authority on everyday activities from childrearing to reading the Bible-into an icon of American liberalism and, more recently, American conservatism.
Claire Rydell Arcenas is an associate professor of history at the University of Montana. She received her PhD from Stanford University in 2016. She is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation. Her first book, America’s Philosopher: John Locke in American Intellectual Life, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2022 and will be released in paperback in the fall of 2023.
The Washington History Seminar is co-chaired by Eric Arnesen (George Washington University) and is organized by the American Historical Association. It meets weekly during the academic year. The seminar thanks its anonymous individual donors and institutional partner (the George Washington University History Department) for their continued support.
4 апр 2023
