Jefferson's Philosophy
11/26/2018Murray N. Rothbard
[Previously unpublished online; Faith and Freedom 2, no. 7 (March 1951).]
Jeffersonian or Hamiltonian? Every college student, indeed every literate person, is expected to choose up sides and pin a label on himself in the Great Debate. Most people today consider themselves as Jeffersonians. Groups as diverse as the States' Rights (or Dixiecrat) movement and the Communists consider themselves heirs to the Jeffersonian mantle. At one and the same time, conservative southerners refer to themselves as "Jeffersonian Democrats," while the leading revolutionary Marxist school in the country is called the "Jefferson School of Social Science." Amidst this welter of confusion, to find the true picture of Jefferson the man and political philosopher is an extraordinarily difficult task.
https://mises.org/library/jeffersons-philosophy
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Certainly Murray Rothbard is a serious scholar.
As for Jefferson, he was indeed a Principled Conservative
at his core; yet while Minister to France he supported
the ideals of their Revolution.
He was a walking conflict of principles.
