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Tocqueville, Democratic Poetry, and the Religion of Humanity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2021

Üner Daglier Open the ORCID record for Üner Daglier [Opens in a new window]
Üner Daglier*
Affiliation:
Istanbul, Turkey
*
E-mail: daglier@gmail.com
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Abstract

The Religion of Humanity has typically been associated with Auguste Comte's positivism. Within liberal philosophical debate, John Stuart Mill's measured advocacy for it has received some attention, especially given his otherwise well-known emphasis on the tension between religion and liberty. Yet Alexis de Tocqueville's perceptive awareness of the Religion of Humanity as an evolving phenomenon, expressed through his discussion of democratic poetry, remained largely unnoticed. Of course, Tocqueville's essential religio-political task was to promote a modified version of Christianity and buttress the standing of religious morality as an outside barrier against human action motivated by democratic materialism, notwithstanding the secular doctrine of self-interest well understood. Indeed, despite the neutral tone of Tocqueville's discussion of democratic poetry, elsewhere his critique of democratic pantheism, writers and orators, theatre, and historians warned against excessive veneration of humanity, which amounted to a sublimation of the dogma of the sovereignty of the people.

Keywords

Alexis de Tocquevilledemocratic poetrythe Religion of HumanityJohn Stuart MillAuguste Comte
Type
Article
Information
Utilitas , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 1 - 18
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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