Jeffrey Rosen On 'The Pursuit Of Happiness'
1A
NPR
4.3 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2024
⏱️ 36 minutes
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Summary
At a time when the language and intent of the Constitution are under intense scrutiny, one legal scholar is particular is out to explore what the founders may have meant when they defined that last part as an inalienable right.
Nowadays, most of us think of happiness as something that results from the pursuit of pleasure. But writer and historian Jeffrey Rosen says the Founding Fathers had other ideas.
We talk to Rosen, the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, about his latest book, "The Pursuit of Happiness," and what the founders had in mind for our country.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Support for NPR and the following message come from SAP Concur, a leading brand for integrated travel expense and invoice management solutions. |
| 0:08.5 | With SAP Concur solutions, you'll be ready to take on whatever the market throws at you next. |
| 0:14.0 | Learn more at concur.com. So you've probably heard the words life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness thousands of times. |
| 0:31.0 | But have you ever thought about what the founders really meant when they |
| 0:34.5 | defined the pursuit of happiness as an inalienable right? Some of you have. In our |
| 0:40.1 | country, my interpretation is that you know we should every single person should do |
| 0:44.6 | whatever they want to do that makes them happy as long as they're not you know hurting other |
| 0:48.4 | people thank you Joel well constitutional scholar Jeffrey Rosen has thought a lot about it too. |
| 0:56.1 | His new book is out today and it's called The Pursuit of Happiness, how classical writers on |
| 1:01.3 | Virtue inspired the lives of the founders and defined America. |
| 1:05.7 | In it, Jeffrey Rosen takes a deep dive into the minds and psychology of the founders |
| 1:10.5 | through what they were reading. Jeffrey joins us after the break to talk about his new book. |
| 1:15.0 | I'm Elliot Williams, a legal analyst for CNN and for Gen White. |
| 1:20.0 | You're listening to the 1A podcast, where we get to the heart of the story. |
| 1:24.3 | We'll be back with more in just a moment. |
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