Brownson, Orestes Augustus

(1803-1876) Philosopher, essayist, and reviewer, born Stockbridge, Vermont; died Detroit, Michigan. He was ordained a Universalist minister, but later denying all Divine revelation, left the ministry and adopted Robert Dale Owen's communistic theories of property and marriage. In 1831 sympathy for the working classes led him to preach as an independent minister. For the next 12 years he was associated with the Unitarians. Through the "Boston Quarterly Review" (eventually "Brownson's Quarterly Review") his political theories excited much attention. In 1844 he became a Catholic, thereafter devoting his pen to the defense of his Faith. He is the author of numerous works, several of them in the form of novels. He disclaimed having originated any form of philosophy, and acknowledged freely what he borrowed from others. Principal works: "New Views of Christianity, Society and the Church"; "Charles Elwood"; "The Mediatorial Life of Jesus"; "The Spirit Rapper"; "The Convert, or Leaves from my Experience"; "The American Republic, its Constitution, Tendencies and Destiny." His works were edited and his biography written by his son Henry F. Brownson (1835-1914).

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