Promethean In-Depth
Saturday Class - The Right to Pursue Happiness
host Tony introduces Judy Hodgkiss discussing her new >>24769775 book, The Right to Pursue Happiness, arguing that mainstream historians wrongly credit John Locke’s social contract and Voltaire as chief sources of America’s founding ideas. Hodgkiss traces “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” to a Leibnizian, spiritually grounded conception of government transmitted through Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke, whose writings circulated widely in the colonies and influenced figures such as George Wythe and James Wilson; she also notes Benjamin Franklin’s promotion and printing of Bolingbroke’s The Idea of a Patriot King. Using Jefferson’s draft edits and the shift from “property” to “pursuit of happiness,” she contrasts Tory opposition to Anglo-Dutch financial oligarchy with Whig/Locke banking networks, surveys cultural-scientific efforts tied to Bolingbroke’s circles, and closes with Voltaire’s later attack on “optimism” and modern dismissals of Leibnizian thought.
0:00 Welcome and Setup
1:02 Book as Counterattack
5:11 Meet Leibniz and Bolingbroke
8:41 LaRouche Research Origins
10:40 Book Blurb and Thanks
12:38 Tories vs Whigs Worldview
18:34 Jefferson Draft Close Read
26:09 Leibniz Happiness Principle
29:12 Bolingbroke Patriot King
32:05 Colonial Influencers Wythe Wilson
38:04 Jefferson and French Myth
41:48 Franklin Promotes Bolingbroke
43:16 Next Class Preview
43:53 Theology and Philosophy Terms
46:05 Metaphysics Explained
48:04 Stuart Succession Timeline
50:28 Glorious Revolution and Banking
53:15 Swift Attacks Newton and Locke
56:33 Colbert and French Development
58:31 Leibniz at Paris Academy
1:00:50 Bolingbroke Networks and Culture
1:04:59 Brothers Club in the Colonies
1:08:15 Orrey Planetarium and Astronomy
1:11:54 Leibniz on Music and Poetry
1:13:33 Pope and Popular Optimism
1:16:11 Voltaire’s Counterattack
1:18:50 Modern Ridicule and Wrap-Up
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R9YiVKdS9g