and philosophical thinkers concerned themselves at some point with the issue of tyranny in society. Such writers spanned from Alexis de Tocqueville, to John Stuart Mill, to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The interpretations and approaches taken to the subject of tyranny and how to protect against it, though, were as varied as the collection of authors who addressed it. From de Tocqueville’s stringent observations in Democracy in America, the concept of a purely political tyranny is delineated. In contrast
2014; Alexis De Tocqueville was casually heading down to the local election hall in Toronto for the municipal elections occurring that night. As he stepped in and stood in line for his turn, he noticed two individuals ahead of him. At closer inspection, he was in awe to realize these two gentlemen happened to be Adam Smith and Karl Marx, two great philosophers he had always wanted to meet and converse with. Smith and Marx, realizing their admirer staring, immediately recognized Tocqueville as well
The French Revolution of 1848 was a great disappointment to both Karl Marx and Alexis de Tocqueville. To Marx, the revolution should have been a step along the way to socialism, with the bourgeoisie capitalists overthrowing the previous landed feudal society. In turn, the proletariat would arise and bring both the end of class antagonism and the beginning of the socialist state. To Tocqueville, the revolution was about the reduction in the power of the aristocracy as the lower classes were in ascendance
The revolution of 1848 was a great disappointment to both Karl Marx and Alexis de Tocqueville. To Marx, the revolution should have been a step along the way to socialism, with the bourgeoisie capitalists overthrowing the previous landed feudal society. In turn, the proletariat would rise and bring both the end of class antagonism and the beginning of the socialist state. To Tocqueville, the revolution was about the reduction in the power of the aristocracy, as the lower classes were on their way
to understand society and its functions. Karl Marx is a famous critic of capitalism, who focused on society in terms of production of goods and economy. Adam Smith wrote Wealth of Nations, he is known as the father of capitalism, and for his views of political economy. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America, he focused on the democratic system in America. All three of them have their own respective opinions on society in regard to capitalism. Marx believes that “Capitalism is soul destroying
Paul de Man once said, “Modernity exists in the form of a desire to wipe out whatever came earlier, in the hope of reaching at least a point that could be called a true present, a point of origin that marks a new departure.” But what is he really trying to say? Modernity takes out the old and brings in the new, continually upgrading to something else? Modernity appears as a concept of change. It most commonly refers to the social conditions, processes, and discourses resulting from the Age of Enlightenment
When reading Marx and Tocqueville one may find that both seem to stand on opposite ends of a spectrum. While Tocqueville, as a social theorist, appears to value stability in political systems over all else (Ratcliff, 2014), Marx believes revolutions are the way for which the history of humankind can progress, and that the end of history will arise from the revolt of the people for a communist society (Ratcliff, 2014). Indeed, while both Marx and Tocqueville value liberty and equality, their notions
argues that Mill’s ideas about individual liberty are *accurate* because he believes that individual rights are most important because communities are comprised of individuals, and that society should not be able to infringe upon these rights. Karl Marx, a controversial political philosopher and revolutionary, is a strong proponent of community liberty. He views the proletariat as one singular body and believes that change will only occur once the working class collectively revolts against their
the context of political thought, pull heavily from the 19th century writings of France’s Alexis de Tocqueville and Britain’s John Stuart Mill. Germany’s Karl Marx, who was a contemporary of the two thinkers in the 19th century, has also had an effect on our thoughts concerning the admittedly abstract idea of liberty. However, his impact on our perceptions of liberty is maybe less pronounced than Tocqueville and Mill, especially in the context of American political thought, primarily because his revolutionary
Socialistic Government, these are the people that do not fully understand what it means. In this paper I will show you why socialism will be the death to America and why we need to keep our current system of capitalism. There is a quote by Alexis De Tocqueville to help prove my point, “Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude” (brainyquote.com, n.d