Jefferson and the Virtue of Limited Government

We often hear that Thomas Jefferson got his anthropology wrong, a fact best seen in his dismissal of original sin’s effects and his apparent trust in “the people.” But is this really a full and accurate portrayal of Jefferson’s understanding of the human person? What I suggest we do is consider what he got right. In particular, a close examination of Jefferson’s thought reveals that what is now known as the principle of subsidiarity was deeply embedded in his anthropology of man. For Jefferson, man was a free but social and moral creature, and this had important implications for how he viewed the role of the State in human affairs. Read Full Article »