The Founders, the Pursuit of Happiness, and the Virtuous Life We the People

Jeffrey Rosen talks about his new book, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America, followed by a panel discussion on the influence of classical writers and thinkers on the founding generation. Panelists include University of Chicago Professor Eric Slauter, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will; and Melody Barnes, executive director of UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy. This program was recorded live on February 9, 2024.  
Resources: 


Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America (2024) 

Cicero, The Tusculan Disputations  

Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics  

Melody Barnes, et al, ed., Community Wealth Building and the Reconstruction of American Democracy (2020) 


Karsh Institute of Democracy, University of Virginia   

Eric Slauter, The State as a Work of Art: The Cultural Origins of the Constitution (2009) 


Thomas Jefferson’s Recommended Reading  

George Will, Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government Does (1984) 

George Will, The Conservative Sensibility (2019) 



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