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The Federalist and Human Nature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

James P. Scanlan
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Extract

Students of American political theory find themselves in general agreement concerning the character and significance of their most celebrated document, The Federalist. Few deny that this series of essays in support of the Constitution by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay represents a substantial contribution to the literature of political theory. The nature of the contribution is also well established. The Federalist, it is agreed, is a skillful exposition of the principles of constitutional republicanism — an exposition not haphazard or fanciful, but controlled by constant reference to the capacities and limitations of the political animal. The latter point is often emphasized; Benjamin F. Wright states: “The aspect of The Federalist which is of universal applicability is … its recognition of the importance of human nature in politics, togetherwith its remarkably penetrating analysis of the motives and the behavior of men in a free society.” x Finally, there is agreement on the general outlines of this theory of human nature. The authors of The Federalist, it is said, were decidedly “realistic,” brooking no illusions of the inherent goodness or rationality of man, but holding firm to “a conception of human corruptibility.” 2 The adjective most often employed is “pessimistic.”

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , October 1959 , pp. 657 - 677
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1959

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References

1 Wright, Benjamin F., “The Federalist on the Nature of Political Man,” Ethics, LIX, No. 2 (01, 1949), Pt. II, 31Google Scholar.

2 Jacobson, J. Mark, The Development of American Political Thought (New York, 1932), p. 180Google Scholar.

3 Wright, , op. cit., pp. 3–4Google Scholar.

4 Padover, Saul K. (ed.), The Complete Madison (New York, 1953), p. 11Google Scholar.

5 Burns, Edward M., James Madison: Philosopher of the Constitution (New Brunswick, 1938), p. 31 (italics in original)Google Scholar.

6 Wright, , op. cit., p. 28Google Scholar.

7 Riemer, Neal, “James Madison's Theory of the Self-Destructive Features of Republican Government,” Ethics, LXV, No. 1 (10, 1954), 42Google Scholar.

8 Hamilton, Alexander, Jay, John, and Madison, James, The Federalist (New York: The Modern Library, n.d.), p. 331 (italics in original)Google Scholar.

9 Ibid., p. 59.

10 Ibid., p. 92.

11 Ibid., pp. 54, 58, 410, 464.

12 Ibid., pp. 30, 92, 138, 170, 329, 470, 487.

13 Ibid., pp. 331, 361, 381.

14 Ibid., p. 138.

15 Ibid., pp. 11, 30, 69, 94, 137, 168, 188, 222–23.

16 Ibid., pp. 26, 54. Cf. pp. 58, 139, 180, 225.

17 Ibid., pp. 464–65.

18 Ibid., p. 90. Cf. pp. 36, 138, 170.

19 Ibid., pp. 23–24

20 Ibid., p. 405.

21 Ibid., pp. 5, 26, 30.

22 Ibid., pp. 3, 54, 274, 307.

23 Ibid., pp. 57, 94, 103–04.

24 Ibid., pp. 30, 57, 90, 93–94.

25 Ibid., pp. 21, 24, 54, 79, 209.

26 Ibid., pp. 3, 11, 23, 103, 232, 337.

27 Ibid., p. 92. It is clear from the context that in this and the passages immediately following, “passion” refers to antagonistic, not amicable passions.

28 Ibid., p. 56.

29 Ibid., p. 30. Cf. pp. 18, 54, 57, 103–04, 138, 168–69, 274.

30 Ibid., p. 92.

31 Ibid., pp. 23–24.

32 Ibid., p. 27. Cf. pp. 94, 307.

33 Ibid., pp. 102–03.

34 Ibid., p. 221 (italics in original).

35 Ibid., pp. 463–64.

36 Ibid., p. 361. Cf. pp. 58, 92, 381.

37 Ibid., pp. 138, 475. Cf. pp. 10, 14, 61, 217.

38 Ibid., p. 475.

39 Ibid., p. 206.

40 ibid., p. 79.

41 Ibid., p. 225.

42 Ibid., p. 87.

43 Ibid., p. 95.

44 Ibid., pp. 339–40. Cf. pp. 53–62, 207–224.

45 Ibid., pp. 230–31, 357–58, 401.

46 Ibid., p. 54.

47 Ibid., pp. 57–58.

48 Ibid., p. 58

49 Ibid., p. 61.

50 Ibid., p. 341.

51 Ibid., p. 388.

52 Ibid., pp. 174, 259–312, 339, 364, 390, 476–77.

53 Ibid., p. 370.

54 Ibid., p. 372.

55 Ibid., p. 373.

56 Ibid., p. 470.

57 Ibid., pp. 470–71.