In the thread below, Chantal Delsol graciously responded to my observation that her more recent book had dropped the occasional references to human nature used in earlier books. While still utilizing the term “natural” to reference to certain biological determinations, she affirmed that . . . . Continue Reading »
Here’s the basic schema I laid out in #26 : 1) quasi-modernity –approximately 1776 to 1918 2) intermediate modernity –approximately 1919 to 1965 3) full modernity –approximately 1966 to the present. Now, for some flesh upon these analytic bones. Everyone knows WWI and the 20s . . . . Continue Reading »
So you all know that you need to read Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. But hey, that’s a 600-page book! Well, here’s the chapters you just cannot skip. I helped out a colleague with this recently, and I may as well pass the info onto y’all. From volume one part one . . . . Continue Reading »
Before beginning, I’ll note that Joe Carter is soliciting donations to the FT website —please consider giving to what I obviously think is a fine internet crossroads of content. Tocqueville’s concept of individualism is one of his most helpful, but often gets misunderstood due to our . . . . Continue Reading »
In case you don’t know, Peter’s The Restless Mind is one of the very best books there is on Tocqueville. Either the best, or in the top three. His post below, which contains a number of fascinating angles for further inquiry, and particularly about Tocqueville’s (scattered, and . . . . Continue Reading »
There’s little less fashionable today than praising the Puritans, especially for their egalitarian political idealism, their promotion of genuinely humane and liberating learning, and their capacity for enjoyment and human happiness. Praising the Puritans is especially difficult for us because . . . . Continue Reading »
If Alexis de Tocqueville was right in observing that the American nation insists upon “perpetual adoration of itself,” why have Americans been such devoted readers of Democracy in America for almost two centuries now? Maybe initially Americans mistook the title itself for praise: Surely the . . . . Continue Reading »
From all appearances, it is now back in style to be critical of American individualism. Indeed, that critique has never gone entirely out of style, and for very good reasons. But views on these matters also seem to follow cycles which, if not of Schlesingerian predictability, are nevertheless . . . . Continue Reading »
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