Alexander Hamilton: America’s Political Philosopher?
In recent years, Alexander Hamilton has catapulted back into our public consciousness. In this course, we’ll read some of Hamilton’s fundamental works—The Federalist Papers, the Pacificus-Helvidius debates, and reports he composed as our nation’s first Treasury Secretary—to familiarize ourselves with his thought, especially on politics and economics. What did Hamilton think about democracy and monarchy? What did he foresee as the role of the judiciary and constitutional interpretation? What did Hamilton think America could do to make itself great on the international stage? In reading and asking these questions, we will go beyond the observation that Hamilton was one of our country’s most important founders; rather, we’ll concern ourselves ultimately with whether Hamilton is our country’s quintessential political theorist.
This course is generously supported by the David Fleischer Forum on American Civilization
Ben Silver
Benjamin Silver is a PhD student in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. Before returning to school, he worked as an assistant editor at National Affairs. Beginning in 2022, he will clerk for Judge Steven J. Menashi of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He is currently writing a dissertation on The Federalist, and his other writing has appeared in publications such as Mosaic, Commentary, First Things, and The Jewish Review of Books. He holds an AB and an AM from the University of Chicago as well as a JD from Yale Law School.
Meet the Instructor
Tikvah aims to make all of our courses available to as many qualified students as possible. In the event that Tikvah needs to add additional sections, this course may be taught by a different faculty member with a similarly high level of expertise.