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Book Synopsis

Allegories of America offers a bold idea of what, in terms of political theory, it means to be American. Beginning with the question What do we want from a theory of politics? Dolan explores the metaphysics of American-ness and stops along the way to reflect on John Winthrop, the Constitution, 1950s behavioralist social science, James Merrill, and William Burroughs.

The pressing problem, in Dolan''s view, is how to find a vocabulary for politics in the absence of European metaphysics. American political thinkers, he suggests, might respond by approaching their own theories as allegories. The postmodern dilemma of the loss of traditional absolutes would thus assume the status of a national mythologyAmerica''s perennial identity crisis in the absence of a tradition establishing the legitimacy of its founding.

After examining the mid-Atlantic sermons of John Winthrop, the spiritual founding father, Dolan reflects on the authority of the Constitution and the Federa

Allegories of America

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    A Paperback / softback by Frederick M. Dolan

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      Publisher: Cornell University Press
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 15/08/2018
      ISBN13: 9781501727801, 978-1501727801
      ISBN10: 150172780X
      Also in:
      Cultural studies

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Allegories of America offers a bold idea of what, in terms of political theory, it means to be American. Beginning with the question What do we want from a theory of politics? Dolan explores the metaphysics of American-ness and stops along the way to reflect on John Winthrop, the Constitution, 1950s behavioralist social science, James Merrill, and William Burroughs.

      The pressing problem, in Dolan''s view, is how to find a vocabulary for politics in the absence of European metaphysics. American political thinkers, he suggests, might respond by approaching their own theories as allegories. The postmodern dilemma of the loss of traditional absolutes would thus assume the status of a national mythologyAmerica''s perennial identity crisis in the absence of a tradition establishing the legitimacy of its founding.

      After examining the mid-Atlantic sermons of John Winthrop, the spiritual founding father, Dolan reflects on the authority of the Constitution and the Federa

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