Professors and Public Ethics

Book excerpt: A relatively unexplored subject in the social and intellectual history of our country is the contribution made by the moral philosophers, the social scientists of their day. What was their place in the academic and practical world? What was the nature of their social ethics? Did they have a real voice in public affairs? What brought about the decline of their influence? These questions are dealt with in Professors and Public Ethics. In particular, Professor Smith discusses the beliefs and careers of some of the leading moral philosophers—William Paley, John Daniel Gros, Francis Lieber, Charles B. Haddock, Francis Wayland, James Walker, and others. Their writings and their views upon moral questions and the moral aspects of leading questions of their time are presented; among the problems dealt with are abolition of slavery, state rights, the Mexican War, Know-Nothing politics, agriculture and farm problems, the tariff, free trade, savings banks, recessions and booms, repudiation of state debts, and prison reform. Historians, as well as present-day social scientists and church leaders, should find Professors and Public Ethics a sound, thoughtful, and valuable contribution to our knowledge about the mid-nineteenth century.