Showing results for "Thomas Payne" in Philosophy

Read by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti, Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775-76 that inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain in the summer of 1776. The pamphlet explained the advantages of and the need for immediate independence in clear, simple language. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution and became an immediate sensation.

What makes Henry David Thoreau's Walden one of the fundamental benchmarks in the canon of American literature and philosophy? What role has the book played in the development of modern thought, and what relevance does it have for today's reader? Noted scholar Daniel G. Payne (SUNY, Oneonta) ponders these and other questions, and in the course of his meditation considers Henry Thoreau's influences and inspirations along with his biases and priorities.