Democracy And Leadership
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''Democracy and Leadership'' is a book by
Irving Babbitt Irving Babbitt (August 2, 1865 – July 15, 1933) was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New Humanism, a significant influence on literary discussion and conservative tho ...
, first published by Houghton Mifflin in 1924. A new edition was published by Liberty Fund Inc. in 1979, with an introduction by Russell Kirk.


Synopsis

Babbitt criticizes what he calls the naturalistic movement in modern Western society. He distinguishes two aspects of this movement, letting
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
exemplify its mechanistic and
utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...
side and
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...
its sentimental side. Both ignore the need to order human life with reference to a transcendent ethical principle. The utilitarian and sentimental dispositions are frequently joined in a single individual. According to Babbitt, no amount of sentimental “love” or sociopolitical activism can substitute for a lack of real
moral character Moral character or character (derived from ) is an analysis of an individual's steady Morality, moral qualities. The concept of ''character'' can express a variety of attributes, including the presence or lack of virtues such as empathy, courag ...
. The book rejects historical
deterministic Determinism is the metaphysical view that all events within the universe (or multiverse) can occur only in one possible way. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping mo ...
philosophies from
Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...
to Bossuet. It details
political philosophy Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...
from
Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
onwards, explaining how governmental philosophies have tried and failed over time. In the book, Babbitt provides a convincing critique of "unchecked
majoritarianism Majoritarianism is a political philosophy or ideology with an agenda asserting that a majority, whether based on a religion, language, social class, or other category of the population, is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society, ...
," while dealing with the issue of how to find leaders who have high standards.


Recognition

* ''"...one of the few truly important works of political thought."'' —Russell Kirk * "''Today, the wisdom of Babbitt's view is apparent.''" —Joe Lee Davis


Background

Babbitt considered moral character so important that it could not be superseded by
socio-political Political sociology is an interdisciplinary field of study concerned with exploring how governance and society interact and influence one another at the micro to macro levels of analysis. Interested in the social causes and consequences of how ...
activism Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...
or
sentimentality Sentimentality originally indicated the reliance on feelings as a guide to truth, but in current usage the term commonly connotes a reliance on shallow, uncomplicated emotions at the expense of reason. Sentimentalism in philosophy is a view in ...
. In some cases, he believed social reform could be helpful, but never as a replacement for individual conscience. He explains: "With the present trend toward '
social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
,' the time is rapidly approaching when everybody will be minding everybody else’s business. For the conscience that is felt as a still, small voice and that is the basis of real justice, we have substituted a
social conscience A social conscience is "a sense of responsibility or concern for the Social issue, problems and Social justice, injustices of society". While our conscience is related to moral conduct in our day-to-day lives with respect to individuals, social c ...
that operates rather through a megaphone. The busybody, for the first time perhaps in the history of the world, has been taken at his own estimate of himself."


References


External links

* The full text of
Democracy and Leadership
' at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
* {{cite book, title=Quarterly Review: A Journal of University Perspectives, url={{google books , plainurl=y , id=ukDiAAAAMAAJ, page=29, year=1955, publisher=UM Libraries, pages=29–, id=UOM:39015071119468
The Birth of a Chinese Cultural Movement: Letters Between Babbitt and Wu Mi

What is “humanism"?
1924 non-fiction books American non-fiction books Political books