“Where slavery exists, the republican theory becomes still more fallacious.”

—  James Madison

Vices of the Political System of the United States http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a4_4s2.html (April 1787), Papers 9:350-51
1780s

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Where slavery exists, the republican theory becomes still more fallacious." by James Madison?
James Madison photo
James Madison 145
4th president of the United States (1809 to 1817) 1751–1836

Related quotes

G. K. Chesterton photo

“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.”

G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English mystery novelist and Christian apologist

Illustrated London News (19 April 1930)

“The labourers are still more unfortunate in being descended from bondsmen and serfs. Personal slavery or villanage formerly existed in Britain, and all the living labourers still suffer from the bondage of their ancestors.”

Thomas Hodgskin (1787–1869) British writer

Source: Labour Defended against the Claims of Capital (1825), p. 22

Harry V. Jaffa photo

“Well, Douglas became the leader of the Republicans in the struggle in Congress to defeat the Lecompton Constitution, and he succeeded. And from becoming the antichrist of the anti-slavery movement, he became the savior. And many people in the Republican Party wanted Lincoln and the Republicans in Illinois to support Douglas for reelection.”

Harry V. Jaffa (1918–2015) American historian and collegiate professor

2000s, The Real Abraham Lincoln: A Debate (2002), The Right of Secession Is Not the Right of Revolution

Roger Stone photo

“The Democrats are the party of slavery; the Republicans are the party of freedom.”

Roger Stone (1952) American lobbyist

"The Dirty Trickster" (2008)

Jane Roberts photo

“When we believe that science or religion "has the truth," we stop our speculations. While still referring to the theory of evolution, science accepts it as a fact, about existence, and therefore any speculation that threatens that theory becomes almost heretical.”

Jane Roberts (1929–1984) American Writer

Source: The God of Jane: A Psychic Manifesto (1981), p. 58
Context: When we believe that science or religion "has the truth," we stop our speculations. While still referring to the theory of evolution, science accepts it as a fact, about existence, and therefore any speculation that threatens that theory becomes almost heretical. So often it seems that there is no other choice in the matter of man's origin than a meaningless universe and an earth populated by creatures who fight for survival, or a universe created by Christianity's objectified God. And to me, at least, the Eastern religions present no acceptable answers, either.

William John Macquorn Rankine photo

“Discrepancy between theory and practice, which in sound physical and mechanical science is a delusion, has a real existence in the minds of men; and that fallacy, through rejected by their judgments, continues to exert and influence over their acts.”

William John Macquorn Rankine (1820–1872) civil engineer

"Introductory Lecture on the Harmony of Theory and Practice in Mechanics" (1856), p. 4

Benito Mussolini photo

“Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy. You in America will see that some day.”

Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) Duce and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy. Leader of the National Fascist Party and subsequen…

to Edwin L. James of the New York Times (1928)
1920s

“When the unreal is taken for the real, then the real becomes unreal;
Where non-existence is taken for existence, then existence becomes non-existence.”

Wang Chi-chen (1899–2001)

Source: Dream of the Red Chamber (1958), p. 7

Abraham Lincoln photo

“The Republican principle, the unalterable principle, never to be lost sight of, is that slavery is wrong.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States

Speech https://diplomatdc.wordpress.com/2010/06/05/the-libertarian-attack-on-abraham-lincoln-by-gregory-hilton/ (1859)
1850s

Larry Niven photo

“Ad hominem argument saves time, but it's still a fallacy.”

Larry Niven (1938) American writer

Also in Fallen Angels (Baen Books, 1992) as: "Niven's Law: No cause is so noble that it won't attract fuggheads."
Niven's Laws
Context: 16) There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it.
To prove a point, one may seek out a foolish Socialist, thirteenth century Liberal, Scientologist, High Frontier advocate, Mensa member, science fiction fan, Jim Bakker acolyte, Christian, witch, or fanatical devotee of Special Interest Lib. It doesn't really reflect on the cause itself. Ad hominem argument saves time, but it's still a fallacy.

Related topics