Open to current university students and faculty. Copies of Democracy in America will be available for participants who do not already have it.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- What does Tocqueville mean by democracy?
- Is democracy inevitable (“providential”)? Is its corruption inevitable?
- What, if anything, follows democracy? Democratic despotism?
- Do Tocqueville’s recommendations for the role played by religion as a corrective to democracy apply any longer? Can they?
REQUIRED READINGS:
Democracy in America (U of C Press, Mansfield translation):
- Author’s Introduction: pp. 3-15
- I.i. 2: pp. 27-45
- I.i.5: (partial): pp. 57-65
- I.ii.9: (partial): pp. 274-302
- II.i.1-3: pp. 403-415
- II.i. 5-8: pp. 417-428
- II.i.10-11: pp. 433-443
- II.ii.1-2: pp. 479-484
- II.ii.4-5: pp. 485-492
- II.ii.7-10: pp. 496-508
- II.ii.13: pp. 511-514
- II.ii.15: pp. 517-521
- II.ii.17: pp. 522-524
- II.ii.20: pp. 530-532
- II.iv.2-3: pp. 640-645
- II.iv.6: pp. 661-665
Professor Deneen also gave a lecture on Why Liberalism Failed on Thursday, February 1.
To view photos of the master class, visit Lumen Christi’s Facebook page.