Comprehension
1. The “truths” that Jefferson considers self-evident are the presumptions that all people are equal and have a certain set of rights, such as the right to life, happiness, and freedom. The choice of the word “truth” in the Declaration is important. Truth is by definition something objective and only right. The truth is the fundamental reality that can be neither doubted nor denied. A peculiar feature of these truths is their tie with the religious dogmas. According to Jefferson’s vision as voiced in the document, the state needs to grant individuals certain rights because those rights were originally conceived by God in the act of creation. Arguably, God wanted people to be equal, free, and happy, most importantly having a primal right to life. The “truths” enlisted in the Declaration would later become the postulates in the democratic philosophy of the United States as a country, a nation, and a society. They morphed into the basic rights and freedoms of the citizens of America. Interestingly, Jefferson’s language reflects a bias of the corresponding socio-historical time. The use of the word “men” would be now considered discriminatory. In a contemporary version, it would be necessary to substitute it with a gender-neutral, inclusive, and tolerant word “persons”, “individuals” or “people.” Yet, other than that, the wording and appeal are still valid and topical.
2. According to Jefferson, the source from which governments derive their powers is “the consent of the governed.” In other words, people give their government power. People are the government’s heart. Being the elected representatives of the whole nation, of all the people, the government reciprocally aims to justify their trust. The government serves the nation and its interests. Respectively, the government is empowered to do what the people want or delegate it to do. In such a case, people’s collective will become the government’s permit to act through decision-making and policies. In turn, the people comply with the outcomes of this political decision-making. If the results are not worthy of people’s trust and expectations, the reciprocal relations between the nation and the elected (or self-elected) officials fail. If the link of mutual trust between the nation and the government is obstructed by the misconduct of the latter, it may lead to a social uprising or even a revolution. All in all, people’s trust is what feeds the government. People entrust their country to the government, and the latter needs to root its politics in the nation’s entrustment. This way, the government will draw its strength from the strength and happiness of the people as a nation.
Style and Structure
The Declaration of Independence relies primarily on deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning is most evident in listing the sins of the King of Great Britain against the States (in Jefferson’s words, the “history of repeated injuries and usurpations”) to prove the prior general claim about his tyranny and despotism. Among the mentioned wrongdoings are: denial of the right to local legislation and decision-making, invasion of the rights of people, making judges subdued to His will, etc. Other examples of deductive reasoning include inter alia, the reference to the “Laws of Nature”, Divine Providence, or the intent of Creator. In other words, Jefferson treats some arguably universal principles as a general theory on which he bases all further assumptions regarding peoples (nations) and people (individuals). For example, the particular rights to liberty, happiness, and life are considered specific cases and/or derivatives from the general principle of God’s universal intent – the single and singular principle according to which the whole of humankind is made. In contrast, a rare example of inductive reasoning can be found at the end of the document, where the signees list observations of their attempts to appeal to the “British brethren” who failed. These failed – or better to say, ignored – attempts are used as a premise for the generalized conclusion about the necessary separation of the colonies.
The position of a philosopher of social and state management and a scientist http://plagiarismsearch.com/ Donna White about democracy in the whole world