Book Review

Rosen, Jeffrey. The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2024.

The influence of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers on America’s founders is a well-trodden subject. Numerous historians have chronicled elite Revolutionary Era political leaders who learned Greek and Latin, read moral philosophy texts in those archaic languages, and admired Greco-Roman democracies. In a new twist, Jeffry Rosen asserts that the founders’ key takeaway from the ancient moral philosophers was the concept of the “pursuit of happiness,” a phrase found in many of their texts and commonly misunderstood today. Generally, modern readers (and some historians) perceive happiness as a pleasant feeling or a substitute for property. Citing ancient philosophers, Rosen contends that the founders believed pursuing happiness meant seeking virtue through goodness. Furthermore, the idea of happiness as a virtue, rather than merely a feeling, was critical to the post-revolution development of the American government and society. The author contends that it remains highly relevant today.

Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations was particularly influential among the revolutionaries as the Roman politician aptly summarized Stoic moral philosophy. Stoicism encourages people to stop trying to change things outside their control. Instead, people should focus on thoughts, emotions, and actions within their control. Cicero defined virtue as having a good character. From his reading of Cicero, Benjamin Franklin concluded that “without Virtue Man can have no Happiness in the World” (p. 2). The famous American inventor and polymath incorporated Cicero’s ideas in his quest for moral perfection, identifying twelve virtues that people should follow daily. Franklin believed in self-reflection and even rated himself daily on his virtue achievement.

Rosen uses one or more founders to illustrate Franklin’s posited virtues, each with a separate chapter. The author provides a balanced view. Some founders lived up to their virtues, such as George Washington controlling his temper or Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass seeking justice for the enslaved.  Others struggled, including John Adams controlling his vanity and James Wilson’s egregious lack of frugality. Rosen points out that many founders knew that Americans, by enslaving people, were not living virtuously. Prominent political leaders like John Quincy Adams and Benjamin Franklin acted upon the injustice while others, like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, hypocritically persisted in enslaving. Inspired by the classical philosophers, Phillis Wheatley wrote exquisite poetry, which elicited sincerity and insincerity among the other founders. George Washington greatly respected Wheatley’s poetry and invited her to visit him at this army camp outside Boston. Alternatively, Thomas Jefferson denounced her verses and declared Blacks as racially inferior in his only book, Notes of the State of Virginia.

On the other hand, Rosen argues that Jefferson embodies the virtue of industry through the Virginia planter’s lifelong habits of intellectual self-improvement, including extensive reading and writing. The strength of Rosen’s work lies in the understanding that the founders actively sought personal virtues and public happiness, influenced by classical philosophers, even amidst the deep racism and other personal flaws we recognize today.

While America’s founders had their strengths and flaws, Rosen’s point is that they universally sought to understand the relationships between virtue and happiness. As a group, they believed that when Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, “the pursuit of happiness” meant that people should pursue public virtue while living by example private virtue. They believed that for a democracy to succeed, its citizens must control baser passions (emotions in today’s vernacular) and temper their feelings to ensure they act in society’s best interests.

Another commonality among the founders highlighted in the book is the practice of daily reading for self-improvement, a key component of achieving societal happiness. In preparation for writing The Pursuit of Happiness, the author read Jefferson’s recommended moral philosophy books to understand how they influenced the founders’ thinking. He provides a list and brief description of ten moral philosophy books most often cited by the founders. Rosen urges readers to follow his example and read these Greek and Roman classics to become virtuous citizens.

The Philadelphia-based Constitution Center CEO’s encouragement is well-placed. In the book’s last chapter, Rosen connects the founders’ view of happiness with issues in modern society using two examples. First, he ascribes the opinions of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, following in the footsteps of Thomas Jefferson, that it was the duty of government to permit its citizens to regulate their actions. In this view, people have the right to free speech but must use their rights rationally and respectfully. Second, he asserts that Daniel Coleman’s concept of emotional intelligence is akin to Aristotle’s eudaimonia, or humans flourishing through emotional self-regulation. Balancing reason and emotion is a classical idea underlying modern self-help practices such as impulse control skills. In this manner, the effective emotional control the founders sought is a key to happiness in ancient and contemporary definitions.

Lastly, the George Washington University law professor believes the dramatically increased levels of anxiety and depression in the twenty-first century are linked to over-engagement with social media platforms. As an alternative to Facebook or X, Rosen recommends reading moral philosophy and daily self-reflection. While books were rare, expensive, and only available to the elites in the Revolutionary Era, today’s internet freely provides Jefferson’s books on demand. In Rosen’s view, pursuing happiness in our modern society starts with following the founders’ example by reading and contemplating classical and contemporary moral philosophies.  

I recommend Rosen’s work to all readers of the Declaration of Independence to avoid misunderstanding Jefferson’s words. Without understanding the classical background, the stirring words “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” give readers the wrong impression. It is not the right to own property or to be content. As used by the revolutionaries, happiness is the right and responsibility to act virtuously. One can add to or subtract from Franklin’s twelve virtues or dispute how well the founders lived up to them. However, they are a great starting point to contemplate how we live our lives. Readers of The Pursuit of Happiness will be enticed to consult one or more of Jefferson’s top ten moral philosophy books. All will benefit.

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I recommend Russ Roberts’s interpretative summary for readers interested in pursuing Thomas Jefferson’s suggested moral philosophies and wish for modern prose. Roberts summarizes Adam Smith’s major points from the 1790 edition of The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

Roberts, Russell D. How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness. New York, NY: Portfolio / Penguin, 2014.