Liberty and the Majority in the Work of Tocqueville and Ortega
ABSTRACT
This colloquium explored and compared the views of Tocqueville and Ortega y Gasset on the tyranny of the majority. Three main questions guided our discussions: What are Tocqueville and Ortega’s views on the kind of cultural despotism the modern world confronts? To what extent are Tocqueville and Ortega’s fears of tyranny by the majority justified? How plausible are Tocqueville and Ortega’s ideas about how individual freedom can be preserved in democratic societies?
READING LIST
Conference Readings
de Tocqueville, Alexis . Democracy in America, Volume I. New York: Vintage Books (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.), 1945, 1954, 1961.
de Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America, Volume II. New York: Vintage Books (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.), 1945, 1954, 1961.
Ortega y Gasset, Jose. Man and Crisis. Translated by Mildred Adams. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1962.
Ortega y Gasset, José. The Revolt of the Masses. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1993.