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Tocqueville on Religion, the Enlightenment, and the Democratic Soul

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2015

AARON L. HEROLD
AARON L. HEROLD*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, College of the Holy Cross
*
Aaron L. Herold is Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, College of the Holy Cross ([email protected]).
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Abstract

This article proposes a new interpretation of Tocqueville's thought, one that focuses on his account of religious psychology. From his observations of America, Tocqueville concludes that human beings have a natural hope for immortality—a hope that is driven by a paradoxical but ineradicable desire to affirm and forget oneself simultaneously. Tocqueville formulates this insight as a critique of the Enlightenment thinkers who laid the foundations for liberal democracy; I argue that he crafts his “new political science” to provide healthy outlets for the religious hopes whose existence these thinkers largely denied and whose anomalous presence in the United States has accordingly led to unforeseen dangers. Tocqueville's analysis not only helps us understand and begin to remedy those dissatisfactions that characterize democracy today but it also reveals his theoretical depth, political moderation, and sober assessment of our moral psychology in a way not seen before.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 109 , Issue 3 , August 2015 , pp. 523 - 534
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2015 

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