ABSTRACT

This article examines how American intellectuals such as Jonathan Edwards, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, John Dewey, and Walter Lippmann have recognized reality as well as human nature through both experiential and transcendental approaches. Understanding their recognitions of reality and man, this article argues that throughout American intellectual history the antithesis of the concept of democracy had been not necessarily that of elitism, for both concepts, rather, had been needed in reaching equilibrium between whole and parts which American intellectuals had sought as the most desirable state in the relation of man and God, and of individual and society. In fact, even when they stressed the excellence of whole and the heroism of man, they did so considering their relationships of mutual consent between all parts. In this respect, they were not elitist thinkers like Pareto, Mosca, and Michels who established a systematic distinction between elite and masses in society and politics. They believed that the theological and philosophical concepts of democracy and elitism can be, and should be, reconciled and applied for the full growth of individuals and the entire progress of society. The aim of this article is to criticize a current intellectual ethos which denies reality as well as human subject due to the belief that the processes of historical formation have been dominated by elite persons, elite values, and elite culture.

KEYWORD

John Dewey, Jonathan Edwards, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, Walter Lippmann, democracy, elitism

REFERENCES(22)open

  1. [book] Boswell, Victor R. / 1961 / What Seeds Are and Do: An Introduction. in: The United States Department of Agriculture Seeds: The Yearbook of Agriculture 1961 / U.S. Government Printing Office

  2. [book] Carlyle, Thomas / 1897 / On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History in The Works of Thomas Carlyle, Vol. V. originally published in 1841 / Chapman and Hall

  3. [book] Conkin, Paul K. / 1968 / Puritans and Pragmatists: Eight Eminent American Thinkers / Dodd, Mead & Company

  4. [book] Curti, Merle / 1964 / The Growth of American Thought / Harper and Row

  5. [book] Dewey, John / 1981 / The Unity of the Human Being. in: The Later Works, 1925-1953. 17 vols. / Southern Illinois University

  6. [book] Edwards, Jonathan / 1856 / A Dissertation on the Nature of True Virtue. in: The Works of President Edwards Vol. Ⅱ. / Leavitt & Allen

  7. [book] Edwards, Jonathan / 1955 / A Divine and Supernatural Light. in A Jonathan Edwards Reader / Yale University Press

  8. [book] Edwards, Jonathan / 1980 / Scientific and Philosophical Writings / Yale University Press

  9. [book] Emerson, Ralph Waldo / 1934 / Nature. in: Ralph Waldo Emerson: Representative Selections, with Introduction, Bibliography, and Notes / American Book

  10. [book] James, William / 1908 / Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking / Longmans Green

  11. [book] James, William / 1890 / The Principles of Psychology Vol. 1 / Henry Holt and Company

  12. [book] Lippmann, Walter / 1961 / Drift and Mastery: An Attempt to Diagnose the Current Unrest, 1914 / Prentice-Hall

  13. [book] Lippmann, Walter / 1949 / Public Opinion / Free Press

  14. [book] Lippmann, Walter / 1927 / The Phantom Public: A Sequel to “Public Opinion" / Macmillan Company

  15. [book] Miller, Perry / 1956 / Errand Into The Wilderness / Harvard University Press

  16. [book] Mosca, Gaetano / 1939 / The Ruling Class / McGraw-Hill

  17. [book] Mumford, Lewis / 1973 / The Human Prospect. in Lewis Mumford / Interpretations and Forecasts

  18. [book] Pareto, Vilfredo / 1935 / The Mind and Society, 4 vols / Jonathan Cape

  19. [book] Plato / 1848 / Parmenides. in The Works of Plato, Vol. III / Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden

  20. [book] Rorty, Richard / 1991 / Objectivity, Relativism, and Truth / Cambridge University Press

  21. [book] Rorty, Richard / 1979 / Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature / Princeton University Press

  22. [book] Westbrook, Robert B. / 1991 / John Dewey and American Democracy / Cornell University Press