Thomas Paine.

First of all, I would like to apologize if this topic was already posted (and addressed).

I am writing a paper in University and it is for Ethics class. The topic of the paper is to pick a particular statesman, or philosopher or some other dignitary (spelling?) and to judge him as an advocate for virtue, utilitarianism or deontology.

I realize I can google myself. I did, still do. But the wealth of information is so immense that I hate to waste much time searching among countless sites just to find a line or two saying who Thomas Paine was.

Can someone either tell me what philosophy he subscribed to, or where to look to find what I am looking for, either on the internet or right here on able2know.com?

And yes, I will continue research on my own, too so please nobody think that I want you to do my homework.

Thank you everybody in advance.