📘 Course 1: The Foundation of Self Evident Truth

Life • Liberty • Pursuit of Happiness — The Compass of a Free People

Purpose: Awaken the heart and mind to the meaning of Self-Evident Truth and learn to test every law, policy, and belief through the lens of unalienable rights.


🌱 Week 1 — The Roots of Freedom

  • Readings: Declaration of Independence · Locke’s Second Treatise · Paine’s Common Sense
  • Themes: What is self-evidence? Purpose of government. Consent of the governed.
  • Reflect:
    1. What makes a truth self-evident?
    2. When does government lose legitimacy?
  • Activity: Write your own “Declaration of Self-Evident Truth.”

🔥 Week 2 — The Meaning of Liberty

  • Readings: Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws · Locke’s Letter on Toleration · Federalist 51
  • Themes: Liberty as self-governance · Virtue as guardian of freedom
  • Reflect: How do ethics preserve liberty? What is the danger of freedom without virtue?
  • Activity: Journal one freedom you cherish and its matching responsibility.

🌿 Week 3 — The Pursuit of Happiness

  • Readings: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics · Jefferson’s notes on virtue · Northwest Ordinance excerpts
  • Themes: Happiness as moral flourishing · Common good vs. self-interest
  • Activity: Create a “Pursuit of Happiness” map—moral, civic, creative paths to fulfillment.

🏛️ Week 4 — The Test of Self-Evident Truth

  • Readings: The Bill of Rights · Founders’ essays on natural rights · SET’s 7 Filters
  • Apply the 7 Filters: Dignity • Reality • Ethics • Freedom & Justice • Anti-Tyranny • Bias & Power • Self-Correction
  • Capstone: Choose a modern issue and test it through all seven filters.

🎓 Goal:

Graduate as a Citizen Philosopher—one who guards liberty through reason, virtue, and civic courage.

📥 Download

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