| Description |
xiii, 273 pages ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-268) and index. |
| Contents |
Ch. 1. Introduction. 1. The Augustinian Self. 2. Antidotes to the Irrationalities of the Augustinian Self. 3. Of the Embodiment and Disembodiment of Thought. 4. Circularity of Cause and Effect. 5. Of the Spillover Effects of One Sphere upon Another. 6. Of Motion and Boundaries. 7. Of New Beginnings and American Exceptionalism -- Ch. 2. The Augustinian Self. 1. Augustine and the Errancy from God. 2. Hobbes and the Problem of Pride. 3. Rousseau and the Errancy from Nature. 4. Tocqueville and the Democratic Soul. 5. The Enduring Power of the Augustinian Self: Nietzsche and the Democratic Age -- Ch. 3. The Politics of Competition. 1. The Purpose of Politics. 2. Of Scale and Participation. 3. The Interrelation of Political and Economic Participation. 4. Of Associations. 5. Of Newspapers: The Solution to the Problem of Site and Authority. 6. Of Moderation and Motion: Mother Nature and Father Industriousness. 7. When Boundaries Are Transgressed. 8. Of Empire. 9. Of Property and Rights. 10. Of the Sufficiency of Politics and Economics -- Ch. 4. Christianity and Democracy. 1. The Progress of History and Its Arrests: The Depth of Identity. 2. The Problem of Difference in a Democracy. 3. Christianity as Palliative for Envy and Difference. 4. The Indirect Effects of Christianity upon Democracy. 5. Of Long-Term Goals. 6. The Right Relationship between Politics and Religion. 7. The Permanence of Religion -- Ch. 5. Conclusion. 1. The New Political Science. 2. Asking Too Much of Government, Asking Too Much of "the World" 3. What Is to Be Done? -- 4. Concluding Remarks. |
| Summary |
Focusing on Democracy in America, Mitchell examines Tocqueville's key works and argues that Tocqueville's analysis of democracy is ultimately rooted in an Augustinian view of human psychology. Rather than being moderate by nature, human beings are generally drawn in one of two possible directions: either into themselves in brooding withdrawal or into the restive activity of commercial life. For democracy to survive, Tocqueville recognized that its citizens had to navigate successfully between these two extremes of isolation and restiveness. Paradoxically, democracy and its equalizing tendencies seem to foster the very qualities - including ambition and envy - that threaten to undermine the fragile freedom that democracy affords. Mitchell examines Tocqueville's theory that moderation can only be achieved with the help of certain institutional supports. Without them there is neither moderation nor rationality. Tocqueville's crucial insight, Mitchell argues, was that commerce alone cannot hold society together. Our freedom is held together by the mediating institutions of family, religion, and associational life. Analyzing these institutions within the larger contours of Tocqueville's thought, Mitchell shows them to be a particularly American embodiment of the Christian tradition which continues to protect against the inherent instabilities of democracy and invigorate the conditions of equality. He argues that they are as critical now as in Tocqueville's time in safeguarding the continued vitality of democratic life. |
| Subject |
Tocqueville, Alexis de, 1805-1859.
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Democracy.
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Democracy -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.
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Tocqueville, Alexis de, 1805-1859. (OCoLC)fst00041873
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Democracy. (OCoLC)fst00890077
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Democracy -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.
(OCoLC)fst00890101
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Tocqueville, Alexis de 1805-1859. (DE-588)118642871
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Demokratie. (DE-588)4011413-2
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Democratie.
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Filosofische aspecten.
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Religieuze aspecten.
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Tocqueville, Alexis de, 1805-1859. De la democratie en Amerique.
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Democracy.
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Democracy -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.
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Tocqueville, Alexis de.
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| ISBN |
0226532089 (acid-free paper) |
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9780226532080 (acid-free paper) |
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