Thomas Paine: Collected Writings: Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters (Library of America).
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Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Collected Writings by Thomas Paine. Paine came to America in at age 37 after a life of obscurity and failure in England. Within fourteen months he published Common Sense , the most influential pamphlet for the American Revolution, and began a career that would see him prosecuted in England, imprisoned and nearly executed in France, and hailed and reviled in the American nation he helped create.
In Common Sense , Paine set forth an inspiring vision of an independent America as an asylum for freedom and an example of popular self-government in a world oppressed by despotism and hereditary privilege. Hardcover , pages. Published March 1st by Library of America first published January 1st To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Collected Writings , please sign up. Lists with This Book.
Jan 26, Anthony Buckley rated it it was amazing Shelves: I read Rights of Man in my first year as an undergraduate, and most of the others at a later date. Paine's writing both benefits and suffers from the fact that he drank huge quantities of brandy before putting quill to paper. He is scarcely a great philosopher, but an old libertarian socialist like me would be hard put not to love him. He nearly brought democracy to England a hundred or more years before it actually arrived. The great appeal of Rights of Man came from arguing and apparently pro I read Rights of Man in my first year as an undergraduate, and most of the others at a later date.
The great appeal of Rights of Man came from arguing and apparently proving with dubious arithmetic that by getting rid of jobbery and corruption in Parliament, one could establish free health benefit. I picked this up from the library because I have been wanting to read The Age of Reason. It gets 5 stars just for Paines brilliant dismantling of Christianity and the Bible. I don't see how even the most foaming at the mouth Christian could read Age of Reason and not consider the Bible at best a horribly flawed and contradictory historical document.
You'd also have to give this 5 stars for his other well known and not so well known writings in this, even though some of them are quite boring to b I picked this up from the library because I have been wanting to read The Age of Reason. You'd also have to give this 5 stars for his other well known and not so well known writings in this, even though some of them are quite boring to be honest, but for no other reason its a great historical source as to what one of the "founding Fathers" opinions were on government, politics, etc.
I also enjoyed the corresponses between Paine and other "founding Fathers" that were included in this. There was plenty that I disagree with all of them on, and some of them were incredibly hypocritical when you compared what they said, with what they actually did, but these were truly brilliant people, and for the most part they were free thinkers. Nov 13, S. Of the writings in this volume, I read Common Sense and The Crisis long ago long enough to have forgotten they were assigned or voluntary reads , and have yet to read The Rights of Man , or the additional ephemera.
That leaves the Age of Reason for me to address here - it alone earns this collection five stars. Apr 22, Brett Ellingson rated it it was amazing Shelves: Read this book with an open mind and Paine just might surprise you. My perception of what the man Thomas Paine was about changed drastically and for the better.
I gained a huge respect for him; he is far too good a man to be left to the likes of Glenn Beck. I put him in a similar place as someone like Orwell: This particular edition is compact, well put-together, and affordable - a great addition to any library. Jan 10, Jihad Lahham rated it it was amazing. Paine talked about are fairy outdated now, the rest of his writings are a must read. Mar 31, Ellis Morning rated it really liked it.
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Thomas Paine's intellect and skill at persuasive writing should be studied far and wide. It's a shame we only read excerpts of "Common Sense" in school. Aug 13, Todd rated it liked it Shelves: The Age of Reason: Paine is a deep and clear thinking man who is also articulate. The Age of Reason is well worth reading, whether seeking inspiration because one agrees with his position, or as a stone on which to sharpen one's own edge if not.
Because Paine is so thoughtful and also such a good communicator, it makes the omissions and fallacies in his work all that much more glaring. He declares, for instance, Christianity to be false because the Jews did not believe it. He omits the fact that The Age of Reason: He omits the fact that all of Jesus' first followers were Jews, that Christians were merely a sect of Jews, until large numbers of non-Jews also converted, at which time years after the crucifixion the community first became known as Christians in Antioch.
Perhaps more generally, he declares that anything he does not experience and prove to himself is "hearsay" and he has a right to disbelieve it.
Therefore all of human history is "hearsay" to Paine, not to mention all of mathematics and science that he does not prove to himself. Paine's approach would prevent human progress by massively slowing the process of teaching, which is partly demonstration and proof, but mostly "hearsay.
Collected Writings - Thomas Paine, Eric Foner - Google Книги
Paine discredits Christian "hearsay" because it resembled pagan mythology; GK Chesterton noted that even those ignorant of God's truth might half-way grope toward it, so it ought not to be shocking if their stories contained kernels of sublime truth. Paine reduces early Christian observations to the witness of 7 or 8 believers, neglecting that sources indicate hundreds claimed to have seen Jesus resurrected, and of those, dozens died testifying to this truth; dozens who could have easily saved their lives by recanting.
Sane men don't die for something they know to be a lie, and the evidence left by these early believers does not cast doubt upon their sanity per se. The historicity of Jesus and the persecution of the early Church is not only contained in the writings and oral traditions of believers, but also in non-believing sources like Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny, etc.
Paine disbelieves Biblical history because it contains nastiness, which he finds distasteful. Anyone disbelieving in history because it makes mention of murder, rape, etc. He then decries that a book that talks about profane matters like history has nothing to do with revelation. Of course, Paine fails to understand the point of the Bible was to describe God's relationship with man, therefore it is not a history or science book any more than it is a cookbook or auto repair manual. The history is told for the point the moral of the story, not to be an exacting account of human history per se.
Paine supports the Biblical Job in the notion that the existence of God is self-evident and beyond dispute, while also supporting the notion that man can never know or understand God fully. A few paragraphs later, he then mocks the notion of "mystery" in religion, failing to realize it is exactly the word for what Paine and Job together described as man's inability to fully know God. He disbelieves miracles, first from the circular argument that miracles can't be believed because miracles don't happen and people who testify to them can't be trusted, because they're gullible enough to believe in miracles, etc.
Also, though, he indicates that moral truths are self-evident enough not to need miracles to back them up. If moral truths were so self-evident, why would human history be so nasty, as evidenced already?
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The second part of the Age of Reason focuses on Paine's detailed criticism of the Bible, most of which was wasted effort. Most believers are less concerned with whose penmanship a particular book of the Bible is in than whether God inspired it or no. While Paine was unable to accept the authority of a book unless he knew the human authorship, this does not persuade a Jew or Christian concerning their respective scriptures. A moving account of events and Paine's thoughts about them from the beginning of the American Revolution through to just after its conclusion. Mostly written as propaganda to persuade fellow Americans to his ideas, buoy up American morale, or persuade the English of the futility of their efforts.
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His analysis of Britain's difficulties, and the unlikely event of British success, is quite thought-provoking. In fact, the United States itself would have done well to have considered some of these points in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. Interesting is Paine's view of those not in revolt against the British crown as traitors.
Clearly he takes some analytical liberties on that tack. So much so that he castigates especially the Quakers, famous for their pacifism and refusal to fight for either side, as well as their willingness to provide aid to any in need from either side.
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An intellectual defense of the position in favor of American independence from Britain. He starts with a brief critique of the English "constitution," especially focusing on the evils of monarchy, and hereditary monarchy at that. Interesting that many of his arguments, quoting scripture and so on, are undermined by his later rejection of scripture in Age of Reason. He later develops a few ideas about how the Americans ought to proceed.
Some of his recollections provide interesting detail and atmosphere, though according to Paine's later Age of Reason description, his own recollections are "hearsay" for the rest of us, not history anyone has to believe. Paine's analysis of France's motives for alliance with America, here and in the Crisis, seem either naive or disingenuous. A refutation of Burke's defense of the English system and attacks upon the French Revolution. Paine especially refutes the notion that the people can cede their rights or declare their loyalty beyond their own lifetimes, thereby rejecting hereditary systems.
Paine paints an especially rosy picture of the French Revolution and excuses any excesses against the monarchy based on the need to overturn the whole system. While presenting a number of important and lasting points, Paine tends to repeat himself quite a bit and the piece stretches on much longer than necessary. Jul 29, Jared rated it really liked it Shelves: A great compilation of works of someone who had a profound influence on the American Revolution.
Common Sense was perhaps the catalyst to shift public opinion in favor of independence. Some of the other minor works are expectedly more trivial in nature. A little understanding, however, of his life will show that his popularity was much diminished by the time he wrote Age of Reason.
In that work, he seems out of his element in trying to critique various elements of the Bible with an obvious defic A great compilation of works of someone who had a profound influence on the American Revolution. In that work, he seems out of his element in trying to critique various elements of the Bible with an obvious deficiency in its Ancient Near Eastern context.
This work was ably defended by a host of his contemporaries yet still carries a certain unfortunate popularity today. May 29, P. Winn rated it really liked it. With the world in such turmoil, this is a great collection that will take readers back to when all started for America.
It addresses what the forefathers wanted in the new world they found themselves in and is almost exactly opposite of where America finds itself in this day and age of a President who doesn't understand and won't bother to read any of the books like this one that show why America was actually great at one time. Feb 23, Victor rated it really liked it. One of the most extraordinary works in political philosophy. Paine should be required reading in high school. Although his essay, "The Age of Reason", alienated Christians with its argument that the Bible is a fraudulent text, it is an argument that is difficult--if not impossible--to refute.
Paine was no atheist; he was a deist and a firm believer in a Higher Authority. Using William the Conqueror as an example the bastard son of a prostitute who "subdued England" and "gave them law at the point of a sword" , Paine illustrates that all governments are born from banditry and gangsterism--monarchy being the most extreme expression of it. Unlike England, the United States of America has a noble origin, Paine argues, because it is a nation born from the consent of the people and based on Natural Law.
Reading Paine clarified for me how far America has strayed from its founding principles. Open Preview See a Problem? Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Thomas Paine by Thomas Paine.
Included here are the writings that forged the spirit of the American nation: Through these writings, Paine proved the pen is mightier than the sword. Kindle Edition , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Thomas Paine , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Aug 20, Kim rated it it was amazing. Just reading their Conclusion to his The Rights of Man is proof of how we moderns have flubbed up his notions of the great American potential.
Rational and reasonable were the two great expectations of this obsessive compulsive in the cause of liberty that have proved too great to achieve.. This collection, despite being salted with odd misspellings, is an excellent self-portrait of a THESE are the times that try men's souls If Thomas Paine were living today, he'd be rolling around in his grave. This collection, despite being salted with odd misspellings, is an excellent self-portrait of a man intimately involved in the American and French Revolutions who had the grand hope and audacity to believe one day humanity would finally get along.
Although Paine's remarkable positive influence in two revolution ought to put him on the same hallowed ground of Jefferson and Lafayette, his Age of Reason-- the most reasoned and well-researched account of the cruelties of organized religion and the wildly discursive, destructive stories of the Bible-- will no doubt forever ban him from the Founding Father's Hall of Fame.
Jul 23, simon crossley rated it really liked it. Quality of some of the writing is superlative. Thinking on religion is salient for today's philosophical debate. Jackie rated it really liked it Mar 22, Richard Dumont rated it really liked it Apr 08, Martha Mauss rated it it was amazing Jul 19, Tim Allen rated it it was amazing Jan 10, Cole rated it really liked it Dec 26, Margaret Farrell rated it liked it Jul 09, Robert R Brown rated it really liked it Jul 21, Shane rated it really liked it Aug 18, Seanpmeyer rated it really liked it May 28, Nika rated it it was amazing Jan 15, Seeker rated it really liked it Jul 01, Michele Curlee rated it it was amazing Jan 25, Sanders rated it it was amazing Mar 26, Scott McCleskey rated it it was amazing Oct 18, Greg Bettridge rated it it was amazing Dec 07, Zac Minson rated it really liked it Dec 31, Jay Tuma rated it really liked it Jun 08,