Why aren’t the Founding Fathers of the U.S. Constitution - James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, Alexander Hamilton, etc., people who wrote the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, The Federalist Papers, The Anti-Federalist Papers, and a lot more - considered great Philosophers up there with Locke and Rousseau?
The Federalist Papers were used to justify the constitution, and the anti-federalists papers used to justify a bill of rights are great philosophical works, with more completing arguments than anything Locke tried to say (which is a whole different question, with its many flaws - and how Locke wasn’t as much an influence on the Founding Fathers as people once thought). What these people wrote has had as much influence over the world as any other "great" philosopher - but they are not taught as philosophers and are only learned about in history class.
Any reason for this?
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