On Tocqueville's Political Thought Of Liberal Moderatism

Both in the Western for over one hundred years, and in contemporary China, there is no final conclusion of how to define Tocqueville's identity in the currents of modern Western political thought. Some think him as a liberal, some think him as a conservative, still, some think him as a republican, and in the extreme, others defy him as a liberal. He is called as a sympathizer for the socialism in the Left wing, still, he is looked upon as a defender for the classic liberalism in the Right wing. On the basis of the research status quo at home and in foreign countries, this dissertation makes the typological research of Tocqueville's political thought as its research goal, and after synthesizing others'investigations and demonstrations, I call his political thought as liberal moderatism. First, this identity recognizes his status as a liberal, then defines his uniqueness in the tradition of liberal thought——he is a liberal thinker with the personality of balance and openness. In defining his type of political thought, this dissertation lays its emphasis on the type of thought, and gives a little of part-time to the type of history. It makes use of four ways of investigation to finish this task. They include: the research achievements of the mainstream scholars, Tocqueville's self-claim, his fundamental standpoints and research approaches, the class property of his thought. In the light of this consideration, I divide seven chapters with the main body of the dissertation, and go on to demonstrate Tocqueville's political thought of liberal moderatism.To make a little progress in the research of Tocqueville's political thought which is full of plentiful achievements and is permeated by innumerable learning-fields, we must base our research work on the past research fruits and lessons. At the two angles of"string"and"dot", Chapter 1 presents Tocqueville's status and influence in Chinese political life and learning-research and in the Western's, and then presents the surveys, achievements and deviations in the research about Tocqueville's political thought. First, in the aspect of the"string", it reviews the course of rise and fall in the influence and in the research about Tocqueville's political thought in the Western, and the research origin and situation about him in contemporary China. Secondly, in the aspect of the"dot", this chapter outlines some important research problem about him, namely the source of Tocqueville's political thought, Tocqueville's identity in Western currents of political thought, the nature and the traits of his political science, and the comparative research of Tocqueville with other thinkers. This chapter hides remarks in relating, and according to the above problems gives a conclusion: from the joint of the above representative achievements, Tocqueville can be looked upon as a liberal, from the non-joint of them, we can find that he has nameless unique individualities of thinking, and plus the joint and the non-joint, we can call Tocqueville as a liberal moderatist.To know a man, you must understand his own world. Chapter 2 inquires into the intellectual atmosphere and the historical traits in the making of Tocqueville's political thought of liberal moderatism. First, it looks back to the closing, conservativeness and degrading of the traditional liberalism that is due to its ideologizing in the beginning of 19th century so that some thinkers were called for the reviving, amending and perfecting of the liberal principles. Then, it summarizes the problem of Tocqueville's multi-choice in thinking which was brought about by a series of traits of the beginning of the 19th century as a transitory time. Finally, it describes the problem of Tocqueville's multi-identity that originated from his family with the tradition of nobility and the style of liberalism. Tocqueville's liberal moderatism with balance and openness was shaped in these complicated and diversified atmospheres.A certain notion of freedom is the beginning-point with which a liberal observes the political world. Chapter 3 outlines the special connotations in the notion of moderate freedom that constitutes the essential core of Tocqueville's liberal moderatism, and makes it as the premise and the starting-point of the research of the following chapters. Freedom is the supreme category of value in Tocqueville's political dictionary; Tocqueville's notion is a kind of organic one, and its meanings include: personal freedom, political freedom, freedom of self-realization and intellectual freedom etc.; it is a kind of balancing, flexible notion of freedom, first because it includes multi-dimensions: individual and public dimensions, feudal and modern dimensions, secular and heroic dimensions, universal and national dimensions, institution and mores dimensions, and reason and passion dimensions, secondly because it has flexible, organic relations of dialectics with other political notions such as democracy, order, well-being and inevitability. The moderateness of Tocqueville's notion of freedom is embodied in its organics, multi-dimension and dialectics.According to Tocqueville who advocated the integration of thinking and action, his liberalism first is a theory in practice. Chapter 4 summarizes his theory premises and research methods by means of which he studied modern political phenomena, and demonstrates his observations and evaluations on some modern political phenomena. Tocqueville's hypotheses and approaches in political analyses are plural, opening, and his using of them highlights a learning-role with the dual traits of a political philosopher and a political scientist. Tocqueville's notion of democracy has the dual meanings with a social condition and a political form; Tocqueville has the dual attitudes towards the democracy: on the one hand, it is just, on the other hand, the germ of despotism is hidden in its body. Tocqueville investigated the origins, the traits of French Revolution and modern revolutions in general, compared two patterns of revolution, namely English revolution and French revolution, which respectively represents the revolution of success or one of failure; he opposed the revolution on the basis of its infringing upon right, rule of law and order, but at the same time, he admired the revolution providing that it found personal freedom, abolishe feudal privileges, realize equality of law and smash reigns of despotism. Tocqueville analyzed the origins, the historical roles, and their divisions and combinations of modern classes, and presented a pattern of class formation with the mild combination of class competition and class cooperation. Tocqueville's views on democracy, revolution and class embody the nature of his liberal moderatist.After the preceding chapters'reviewing Tocqueville's analyses about modern political phenomena, Chapter 5 investigates his de-construction on modern political theories. Tocqueville fought against the absolutistic rationalism in political life, thought that political action is originated from the mixture of reason and irrationality, but in this over-disenchanting time, he was more inclined to advocate irrationality. Tocqueville fought against historical determinism, thought that historical development is brought about by the combination of inevitability and chance, but in this democratic time which was distinguished by weakening of individual, he was more willing to advocate the argument of will of freedom. Tocqueville analyzed the source, the nature and the traits of socialist; he thought that socialism and capitalism have the same mechanism of inherence; not only did he fight against the tutelage towards individual of socialism, but opposed the principle of laissez-faire of classic liberalism, but he did not rejected the possibility of the socialist elements exiting in the future society. He rejected the public charity as a substitute for socialism on the basis of the relation between individual and society, government grounding that it is beneficial to sustain freedom, but along with the changes of political and economical situation, he began to maintain the notion of public charity, and he went so far as to advocate the expansion of governmental function into the economical field that makes clear a liberal image with a character of flexibility and openness in transitory times. Tocqueville has a distinct realization of the political science as a subject; he admitted the strong function of social and political transformation in it, mores is the core idea of his political science, and all these show his dual oppositions to historical determinism and absolutistic rationalism; Tocqueville maintained mutual linking of varied opposing categories such as fact and value, politics and moral, political science and political art, and theorist and statesman in political life and in political research; Tocqueville's political science is a kind of mixture of the classic tradition of political science with the modern political analysis. Tocqueville's liberal moderatism is incarnated by his comprehensive and flexible knowledge of the political concepts and the political categories of all kinds that seem mutual opposing but in fact are mutual linking and mutual transforming in the field of political theory.Tocqueville analyzed modern political practices and modern political theories in order to avoid a liberal's nightmare——the despotism. Chapter 6 investigates Tocqueville's analyses about the origins of modern despotism and his descriptions of all the versions of it. In his demonstrations about the origins of despotism, Tocqueville not only paid attention to the institutional workings of despotism, but recognized its cultural working; he not only reviewed the old source of despotism, but foretold the new source of it; he not only traced the political and economical origins of despotism, but paid more attention to the social and cultural origins of it. In his descriptions of all the versions of despotism, he not only paid attention to the hard despotism——the political one, but the soft despotism——the intellectual one; he not only described the traditional despotisms——the despotism of sole person and the governmental despotism of majority, but prophesied a new despotism in the future——the tutelary despotism. Tocqueville's demonstrations of modern despotisms highlight an image of liberal moderatism who strides between the past, the present and the future, has a character stemming from both inheritance and innovation, and has both open thinking of politics and developmental insight of politics.Tocqueville's wish for freedom and his terror of despotism form the two poles of his liberal thought. As a logical conclusion of all the above chapters, Chapter 7 analyses the new battlefield against despotism explored by Tocqueville, and a series of new remedies prescribed by Tocquevile. Not only did Tocqueville not ignore the designing principles of law and institution against despotism offered by the traditional liberal, but found some new measures against it in respect of the moulding of mentality and culture. These measures include: fostering of public moral, instilling with political education, cultivating of civil religion and participating with political institutes etc. Tocqueville advocated a moderate public moral combining self-interest and public interest, and including individuality and community; he not only opposed the force and deceit aimed for the citizens'action in classic republics, but did not agree with the opinion of self-support of institution offered by the traditional liberal, and maintained the role of political education in moulding public moral; when suggesting the separation of government and religion, he advocated the integration of politics and religion in spirit, and in the same manner, when wishing that the religion can restrain the despotic tendency rooted in democracy by means of a cultural atmosphere, he feared the intellectual despotism perhaps brought about by the religion; he not only paid attention to the function of maintaining freedom of political institutes by means of institution design, but was more interested to their function of maintaining freedom by means of political education or cultural moulding. In respect of how to fight against the despotism and to maintain the freedom, Tocqueville not only inherited the legacy offered by the traditional liberal, but prescribed the new recipe in the times of mass democracy.In brief, Tocqueville's political thought of liberal moderatism is embodied in his fondness of and reconcilement with opposing things in political practice and opposing notions in political theory, in the flexibility and fluidity of his political thought, and in his neutrality and detachment of political theory and political position, but in the end, this neutrality injures the capacity for political action and political transformation of his thought.This dissertation hopes, by means of the study of Tocquevill's liberal moderatism, to rescue him from the pit of ideological quarrel, and to restore his original appearance; in the gallery full of all kinds of currents of political thought, to find a suitable chair and a proper status for him; and in contemporary China whose course of democratizing has been started, to offer a intellectual portrait of Tocqueville which is as close to the case as possible for our fellowmen in order to avoid misunderstanding and misusing brought about by them due to their excessive passion in requital for their homeland. That will do!...