text:  Philosophies of happiness. Both are in favor of self-mastery, as you say. They did disagree about providence. Jefferson believed in an afterlife but not a providential god, whereas Adams did. And the big difference is the nature of government. Do you have to have a strong state in order to tame human passions, as Adams insisted? Or are people basically good? Can they be perfected through education and therefore is a night watchman state necessary?