Matthew J Peterson
I am building a center that both studies the role of media in deliberative democracy in shaping public policy and produces media projects that enrich American political and cultural discourse, in part by fostering civic engagement and exposing political corruption in Los Angeles and California.
Within the realm of philosophy, I'm interested in what human nature, nature, and the common good are, and how our understandings of each of these affect the others - especially in medieval, modern, and American political thought.
Besides preparing my dissertation on the notion of the "public good" in the ratification debates for publication, I am writing a journal article reviewing interpretations of Federalist 10 and 51 over the last two centuries, a journal article on the notion of "licentiousness" in the ratification debates, and editing a book on religious liberty.
My fields are American Government (institutions, civic engagement, corruption, media, deliberative democracy) and Political Philosophy (common good, rights, nature, aesthetics, human nature, foundings, regime forms).
Since I received my PhD from Claremont Graduate University in December of 2013, I have taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor for the Government Department of Claremont McKenna College and as a Lecturer at Loyola Marymount University before becoming the William E. Simon Distinguished Visiting Professor at Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy.
While completing coursework at Claremont Graduate University I taught two “great books” style seminars on Herodotus and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates for the Humanities Program and a Freshman Writing Seminar introducing Logic and Rhetoric at nearby Azusa Pacific University.
My senior undergraduate thesis explored the notion of the beautiful in the thought of Thomas Aquinas in relation to art and learning. The curriculum at Thomas Aquinas College is a four-year interdisciplinary course of study of the original writings of the great philosophers, historians, mathematicians, poets, scientists, and theologians in mostly the Western tradition.
Besides conducting a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative research for public and private clients, I've helped create, manage, brand, and expand multiple academic institutes, often with a focus on state and local government in California and engaged in groundbreaking work blogging, community/social network mapping, and conducting opposition research.
I have also evaluated the impact of over $50M in federal programs to local education agencies nationally via political and educational research throughout my time in graduate school, helping clients such as the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the James Madison Program at Princeton University, the American Institute for History Education, and many others engaged in teaching history, civics, and American political thought better achieve their goals, determining whether or not students and K-12 teachers have mastered history, civics, and government content.
I am co-founder of Forgotten Road Radio, which produces radio features that share the story of America, from short stories of civic virtue to original commentary on contemporary life. I was VP at Simka Entertainment, which has produced 9 animated features in the last two years, and with which I still consult, and I am developing a documentary series on political corruption based in Los Angeles (Chinatown in real life) as well as a TV series (The Wire meets House of Cards with a dash of Entourage).
I also direct the Burnweit Database project as a research consultant at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College, working with faculty, students, and staff. This unique collection of data includes biographical details for every California state senate and assembly member since statehood. The data is being organized and updated for online, public use.
I am also the managing director of The Charles De Koninck Project (http://charlesdekonink.com). I helped create the institute to publish the entire corpus of philosopher Charles De Koninck (1906-1965, Université Laval) online and promote broad discussion of fundamental questions underlying the history and philosophy of science, human nature and history, ethics, and religion and politics.
Supervisors: Joseph Bessette, Charles Kesler, Michael Uhlmann, and Ralph Rossum
Within the realm of philosophy, I'm interested in what human nature, nature, and the common good are, and how our understandings of each of these affect the others - especially in medieval, modern, and American political thought.
Besides preparing my dissertation on the notion of the "public good" in the ratification debates for publication, I am writing a journal article reviewing interpretations of Federalist 10 and 51 over the last two centuries, a journal article on the notion of "licentiousness" in the ratification debates, and editing a book on religious liberty.
My fields are American Government (institutions, civic engagement, corruption, media, deliberative democracy) and Political Philosophy (common good, rights, nature, aesthetics, human nature, foundings, regime forms).
Since I received my PhD from Claremont Graduate University in December of 2013, I have taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor for the Government Department of Claremont McKenna College and as a Lecturer at Loyola Marymount University before becoming the William E. Simon Distinguished Visiting Professor at Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy.
While completing coursework at Claremont Graduate University I taught two “great books” style seminars on Herodotus and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates for the Humanities Program and a Freshman Writing Seminar introducing Logic and Rhetoric at nearby Azusa Pacific University.
My senior undergraduate thesis explored the notion of the beautiful in the thought of Thomas Aquinas in relation to art and learning. The curriculum at Thomas Aquinas College is a four-year interdisciplinary course of study of the original writings of the great philosophers, historians, mathematicians, poets, scientists, and theologians in mostly the Western tradition.
Besides conducting a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative research for public and private clients, I've helped create, manage, brand, and expand multiple academic institutes, often with a focus on state and local government in California and engaged in groundbreaking work blogging, community/social network mapping, and conducting opposition research.
I have also evaluated the impact of over $50M in federal programs to local education agencies nationally via political and educational research throughout my time in graduate school, helping clients such as the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the James Madison Program at Princeton University, the American Institute for History Education, and many others engaged in teaching history, civics, and American political thought better achieve their goals, determining whether or not students and K-12 teachers have mastered history, civics, and government content.
I am co-founder of Forgotten Road Radio, which produces radio features that share the story of America, from short stories of civic virtue to original commentary on contemporary life. I was VP at Simka Entertainment, which has produced 9 animated features in the last two years, and with which I still consult, and I am developing a documentary series on political corruption based in Los Angeles (Chinatown in real life) as well as a TV series (The Wire meets House of Cards with a dash of Entourage).
I also direct the Burnweit Database project as a research consultant at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College, working with faculty, students, and staff. This unique collection of data includes biographical details for every California state senate and assembly member since statehood. The data is being organized and updated for online, public use.
I am also the managing director of The Charles De Koninck Project (http://charlesdekonink.com). I helped create the institute to publish the entire corpus of philosopher Charles De Koninck (1906-1965, Université Laval) online and promote broad discussion of fundamental questions underlying the history and philosophy of science, human nature and history, ethics, and religion and politics.
Supervisors: Joseph Bessette, Charles Kesler, Michael Uhlmann, and Ralph Rossum
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https://www.facebook.com/notes/matthew-j-peterson/introduction-notes-on-the-common-good-part-16/10154061274325931
Neither side’s understanding of the protection of individual rights as the purpose of government completely forecloses the notion of the promotion of the public good. The uniquely federal nature of the Constitution obscures the deeper understanding of the public good of Anti-Federalists and Federalists alike, but both sides—especially the Federalists—provide plenty of evidence. The Anti-Federalist view of representation emphasizes that the public good must be truly public without making clear how the public good differs from majority will; the Federalists emphasize the public good must be truly good, the product of sound deliberation. The Federalist argument includes the explicit claim that liberty is not license, but tied to a common notion of virtue, or what is truly good for all. The Federalists argue that there is a public good for all the states combined and thus the federal government must have supreme power over matters relating to commerce—and commerce is spoken of as intrinsically connected to morality and virtue—for the sake of this national public good. Although the Federalist notion of the public good is severely limited in scope, remaining in some way open as to the final purpose of human beings or the ultimate questions about what is truly good, it is nonetheless much more than the notion of an interdependent collection of private goods.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/matthew-j-peterson/introduction-notes-on-the-common-good-part-16/10154061274325931
Neither side’s understanding of the protection of individual rights as the purpose of government completely forecloses the notion of the promotion of the public good. The uniquely federal nature of the Constitution obscures the deeper understanding of the public good of Anti-Federalists and Federalists alike, but both sides—especially the Federalists—provide plenty of evidence. The Anti-Federalist view of representation emphasizes that the public good must be truly public without making clear how the public good differs from majority will; the Federalists emphasize the public good must be truly good, the product of sound deliberation. The Federalist argument includes the explicit claim that liberty is not license, but tied to a common notion of virtue, or what is truly good for all. The Federalists argue that there is a public good for all the states combined and thus the federal government must have supreme power over matters relating to commerce—and commerce is spoken of as intrinsically connected to morality and virtue—for the sake of this national public good. Although the Federalist notion of the public good is severely limited in scope, remaining in some way open as to the final purpose of human beings or the ultimate questions about what is truly good, it is nonetheless much more than the notion of an interdependent collection of private goods.