What was the Democratic political landscape in 1860 and why were the slave states totally at the mercy of KS-NE?
Start at yellow highlight and read to end of paragraph.
Showing posts with label popular_sovereignty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label popular_sovereignty. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
p. 294 A New Birth of Freedom, Jaffa
What are the definitions of barbarism and slavery as laid out in the Declaration of Independence?
The answer begins with the yellow highlight here and continues to the end of the paragraph.
The answer begins with the yellow highlight here and continues to the end of the paragraph.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
p. 21 The Conservative Foundation of the Liberal Order, Mahoney
Why is theory inadequate?
"In contrast to the tyranny of such an abstract democratic 'idea,' Tocqueville teaches us to practice the art of liberty within democracy and to defend the broader inheritance of Western civilization. The democratic order is not self-sufficient and depends upon a precious civilizational inheritance that it has trouble renewing and that it sometimes actively undermines. With no hope of simply resolving the 'problem' of democracy, we must draw upon its practice to correct its theory. But we must do so in the awareness that there is a tension in the very idea of 'popular sovereignty' between the abstract idea, always tending toward more radical interpretation and applications, and concrete exercise of democratic self-government. Instructed by Tocqueville, we are in a better position to defend democracy against those who love it immoderately."
My notes: Democracy tends toward the "more radical interpretation" in the West--that is, of total individual autonomy--but it can also tend toward a more Islamic state elsewhere in the world, which is also its enemy.
Connect Tocqueville and Marilynne Robinson's Absence of Mind. Robinson argues about the failure of scientism, which she identifies as a theory that fails to account for the human mind that created the theory.
"In contrast to the tyranny of such an abstract democratic 'idea,' Tocqueville teaches us to practice the art of liberty within democracy and to defend the broader inheritance of Western civilization. The democratic order is not self-sufficient and depends upon a precious civilizational inheritance that it has trouble renewing and that it sometimes actively undermines. With no hope of simply resolving the 'problem' of democracy, we must draw upon its practice to correct its theory. But we must do so in the awareness that there is a tension in the very idea of 'popular sovereignty' between the abstract idea, always tending toward more radical interpretation and applications, and concrete exercise of democratic self-government. Instructed by Tocqueville, we are in a better position to defend democracy against those who love it immoderately."
My notes: Democracy tends toward the "more radical interpretation" in the West--that is, of total individual autonomy--but it can also tend toward a more Islamic state elsewhere in the world, which is also its enemy.
Connect Tocqueville and Marilynne Robinson's Absence of Mind. Robinson argues about the failure of scientism, which she identifies as a theory that fails to account for the human mind that created the theory.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
p. 283-284 A New Birth of Freedom, Jaffa
The mind of the South going into the Civil War was represented by a largely non-slaveholding populous, yet Jaffa writes that this group was the most fanatical in its defense of slavery. Why?
Friday, February 11, 2011
p. 283 A New Birth of Freedom, Jaffa
Why is the right of Revolution connected with the Declaration whereas the right of succession is not?
Thursday, August 12, 2010
p.178 A New Birth of Freedom, Jaffa
Before the war, Buchannan and Lincoln both saw the survival of the South hinging on what one thing? (hint: the mathematics of the territories)
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