Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : sans médiation
Auteur(s) : Mitchell, Joshua (1955-....)
Titre(s) : The fragility of freedom [Texte imprimé] : Tocqueville on religion, democracy, and the American future / Joshua Mitchell
Publication : Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1995
Description matérielle : xiii, 273 pages ; 24 cm
Comprend : 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.
Note(s) : Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-268) and index
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
Sujet(s) : Tocqueville, Alexis de (1805-1859). De la démocratie en Amérique
Démocratie -- Christianisme
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 0226532089. - ISBN 9780226532080
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb43875444n
Notice n° :
FRBNF43875444
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)
