Dissertation Information for Waldo Emerson Martin Jr.NAME: - Waldo Emerson Martin Jr.
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- History
SCHOOL:
- University of California, Berkeley (USA) (1980)
ADVISORS: - None COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - None
MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected
Title: THE MIND OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Abstract: Without a doubt, Frederick Douglass was the foremost Negro American of the nineteenth century. His life and thought represent a significant feature of nineteenth-century American social and intellectual history. The substance and development of Douglass' thought, in particular, pointedly illustrate the intrinsic interrelationship between the Afro-American and Euro-American intellectual traditions. As a thinker, Douglass embodied this inextricable connection. Most important, Douglass' mind vividly reflected the pervasive impact of race on nineteenth-century American thought and life. The central thrust of Douglass' thinking, consequently, was to resolve the deep-seated tension between his identities as a Negro and an American.
The primary assumption unifying the complex of Douglass' thought was an inveterate belief in universal and egalitarian humanism. His seemingly innate conviction of the inviolability of the human spirit and human freedom best exemplified this key assumption. Largely from his understanding of the Bible and Christianity, Douglass gained a formal religious rationale for his deep-rooted and fervid moral sensibility. Likewise, as a child of the Enlightenment, he inherited critical ideological support for his fundamental and acute rational sensibility. His profound optimism and progressivism, moreover, were important corollaries of an essentially religious moralism and enlightened rationalism.
Insightfulness and complexity, rather than originality, characterized Douglass' mind. In their historical context, therefore, Douglass' ideas were more often representative than novel. The whole of Douglass' thought, notwithstanding its intricacies, revealed more continuity than change. His intellectual maturation was principally an ongoing process consisting of intensive analysis, elaboration, and reworking of fundamental concepts. While crucial changes transpired, they were clearly subordinate to his basic philosophy of life and action.
The development of Douglass' mind must be comprehended in its historical milieu. Thematically, his life and thought can be divided into four interrelated categories. First, Douglass' thought and actions as a race leader showed him grappling with ways to alleviate the Negro's political degradation. Second, as a social reformer, he struggled to humanize existing institutions and interpersonal relations. Third, as a black man, Douglass endeavored to present a black, as well as humanist, perspective on the enduring American racial quagmire. Fourth, his keenly introspective nature forced him to explore the depth and meaning of his private and public personalities. Douglass' incisive ability to illuminate major contemporary social and intellectual currents through the prism of his own experience earmarks his intellectual odyssey. Indeed, Douglass' mind speaks profoundly to the dilemma of being black in nineteenth-century America.
| |
MPACT Scores for Waldo Emerson Martin Jr.A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:14:20
Advisors and Advisees Graph
generating graph, please reload |