Alexis de Tocqueville - Democracy in America Vol. 2 : The Arthur Goldhammer Translation

by De Tocqueville, Alexis; Goldhammer, Arthur; Zunz, Olivier

• ISBN13: 9781598531527
• ISBN10: 1598531522
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-02-16
• Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Summary

Democracy in Americais arguably the most perceptive and influential book ever written about American politics and society. The Library of America now presents Arthur Goldhammer's acclaimed translation in a two-volume Paperback Classics edition. Winner of the 2004 Translation Prize awarded by the French-American Foundation, Goldhammer's elegant rendering is the first to capture fully the precision and grace of Tocqueville's style and the full force of his profound ideas and observations. Volume One (1835) and Volume Two (1840) are published separately, each with its own introductory essay by historian Olivier Zunz ( Why the American Century?) exploring the creation and evolution of Tocqueville's masterpiece.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xv
Preface	p. 3
Influence of Democracy on the Evolution of the American Intellect
On the Philosophical Method of the Americans	p. 7
On the Principal Source of Beliefs Among Democratic Peoples	p. 13
Why the Americans Show More Aptitude and Taste for General Ideas Than Their English Forefathers	p. 18
Why the Americans Have Never Been as Passionate as the French About General Ideas in Politics	p. 23
How Religion Uses Democratic Instincts in the United States	p. 25
On the Progress of Catholicism in the United States	p. 34
What Makes the Mind of Democratic Peoples Receptive to Pantheism	p. 36
How Democracy Suggests to the Americans the Idea of Man's Infinite Perfectibility	p. 38
How the Example of the Americans Does Not Prove That a Democratic People Can Have No Aptitude for Science, Literature, or the Arts	p. 40
Why Americans Devote Themselves More to the Practical Applications of Science Than to the Theory	p. 46
In What Spirit Americans Cultivate the Arts	p. 54
Why Americans Build Such Insignificant and Such Great Monuments at the Same Time	p. 60
The Literary Aspect of Democratic Centuries	p. 62
On the Literary Industry	p. 68
Why the Study of Greek and Latin Is Particularly Useful in Democratic Societies	p. 69
How American Democracy Has Changed the English Language	p. 71
On Some Sources of Poetry in Democratic Nations	p. 78
Why American Writers and Orators Are Often Bombastic	p. 85
Some Observations on the Theater of Democratic Peoples	p. 87
On Certain Tendencies Peculiar to Historians in Democratic Centuries	p. 93
On Parliamentary Eloquence in the United States	p. 98
Influence of Democracy on the Sentiments of the Americans
Why Democratic Peoples Show a More Ardent and Enduring Love of Equality Than of Liberty	p. 105
On Individualism in Democratic Countries	p. 109
How Individualism Is More Pronounced at the End of a Democratic Revolution Than at Any Other Time	p. 112
How Americans Combat Individualism with Free Institutions	p. 114
On the Use That Americans Make of Association in Civil Life	p. 119
On the Relation Between Associations and Newspapers	p. 124
Relations Between Civil Associations and Political Associations	p. 128
How Americans Combat Individualism with the Doctrine of Self-Interest Properly Understood	p. 134
How Americans Apply the Doctrine of Self-interest Properly Understood in the Matter of Religion	p. 138
On the Taste for Material Well-Being in America	p. 141
On the Particular Effects of the Dove of Material Gratifications in Democratic Centuries	p. 144
Why Certain Americans Exhibit Such Impassioned Spiritualism	p. 147
Why Americans Seem So Restless in the Midst of Their Weil-Being	p. 149
How the Taste for Material Gratifications Is Combined in America with Love of Liberty and Concern About Public Affairs	p. 153
How Religious Beliefs Sometimes Divert the American Soul Toward Immaterial Gratifications	p. 157
How Excessive Love of Well-Being Can Impair It	p. 162
How, in Times of Equality and Doubt, It Is Important to Set Distant Goals for Human Actions	p. 163
Why All Respectable Occupations Are Reputed Honorable Among Americans	p. 166
Why Nearly All Americans Are Inclined to Enter Industrial Occupations	p. 168
How Industry Could Give Rise to an Aristocracy	p. 173
Influence of Democracy on Mores Properly So-Called
How Mores Become Milder as Conditions Become More Equal	p. 179
How Democracy Simplifies and Eases Habitual Relations Among Americans	p. 184
Why Americans Are So Slow to Take Offense in Their Country and So Quick to Take Offense in Ours	p. 187
Consequences of the Three Previous Chapters	p. 191
How Democracy Modifies Relations Between Servant and Master	p. 193
How Democratic Institutions and Mores Tend to Raise Prices and Shorten the Terms of Leases	p. 203
Influence of Democracy on Wages	p. 206
Influence of Democracy on the Family	p. 209
Raising Girls in the United States	p. 216
How the Traits of the Girl Can Be Divined in the Wife	p. 219
How Equality of Conditions Helps to Maintain Good Morals in America	p. 222
How the Americans Understand the Equality of Man and Woman	p. 229
How Equality Naturally Divides the Americans into a Multitude of Small Private Societies	p. 233
Some Reflections on American Manners	p. 235
On the Gravity of Americans and Why It Does Not Prevent Them from Acting Rashly	p. 239
Why the National Vanity of the Americans Is More Restless and Argumentative Than That of the English	p. 243
How Society in the United States Seems Both Agitated and Monotonous	p. 246
On Honor in the United States and in Democratic Societies	p. 249
Why There Are So Many Ambitious Men and So Few Great Ambitions in the United States	p. 262
On Place-Hunting in Certain Democratic Nations	p. 269
Why Great Revolutions Will Become Rare	p. 271
Why Democratic Peoples Naturally Desire Peace and Democratic Armies Naturally Desire War	p. 285
Which Class in Democratic Armies Is the Most Warlike and Revolutionary	p. 292
What Makes Democratic Armies Weaker Than Other Armies at the Start of a Campaign but More Formidable in Protracted Warfare	p. 296
On Discipline in Democratic Armies	p. 301
Some Remarks on War in Democratic Societies	p. 303
On the Influence that Democratic Ideas and Sentiments Exert on Political Society
Equality Naturally Gives Men a Taste for Free Institutions	p. 311
Why the Ideas of Democratic Peoples About Government Naturally Favor the Concentration of Power	p. 313
How the Sentiments of Democratic Peoples Accord with Their Ideas to Bring About a Concentration of Power	p. 317
Concerning Certain Particular and Accidental Causes That Either Lead a Democratic People to Centralize Power or Divert Them From It	p. 321
How Sovereign Power in Today's European Nations Is Increasing, Although Sovereigns Are Less Stable	p. 327
What Kind of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear	p. 340
Continuation of the Preceding Chapters	p. 346
General View of the Subject	p. 355
Tocqueville's Notes	p. 359
TranlatorÆs Note	p. 369
Chronology	p. 374
Note on the Texts	p. 404
Notes	p. 406
Index	p. 409
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