The Unfinished Programme of DemocracyRoberts, Richard
Philosophy
The Unfinished Programme of Democracy
Roberts, Richard
Democracy; Social history
It is upon the question of what constitutes personal completeness that
we have to reach some kind of conclusion if our sociological thinking is
to be fruitful and if we are to have the proper tests to apply to our
social programmes. Obviously the society we want to produce is one which
will provide the conditions under which every man may rise to the full
stature of his manhood. But what is the full-grown man? Apparently the
only person in the modern world who has possessed a definite and vivid
conception of the full-grown man is Nietzsche. But Nietzsche’s doctrine
is ruled out by our democratic hypothesis. He has told us that mankind
falls into two broad classes of master and slave, and though he
recognises a considerable hierarchy of social grades, he sees,
nevertheless, at the one end the ruling class, and at the other “the
class of man who thrives best when he is looked after and closely
observed, the man who is happy to serve not because he must, but because
he is what he is, the man uncorrupted by political and religious lies
concerning liberty, equality and fraternity, who is half conscious of
the abyss which separates him from his superiors, and who is happiest
when he is performing those acts which are not beyond his
limitations.”[11] Obviously the only kind of society possible on the
Nietzschean terms is an armed peace between supermen and “slave
morality” for the rest. The will to power soon or late issues in
anarchy. The strength of the position of Nietzsche lies in the theoretic
justification it provides for the native human bias which leads to the
quest of personal ascendency, and the struggle for possession. The
result of this tendency has been the constant subordination and
exploitation of the weak by the strong, and a ceaseless scrimmage among
the strong in which the weak are the pawns; and if this struggle has not
brought about the Nietzschean equilibrium, it is due, presumably, to the
enervating influence of Christianity. Yet, here, in this self-regarding
bias we have the original source of all our social chaos; but the
disorder is not to be overcome by inhibiting this impulse. It is
sometimes supposed that human nature is incurably and permanently
self-regarding and anarchic; but this is not true. It is indeed true
that human nature does take easily to the practice of self-assertion as
against others; this is the penalty of our inheritance from the “ape and
the tiger.” But it is mere folly to suppose that man has to carry this
sorrowful entail in perpetuity. It is fastened on him largely by reason
of the external circumstances of his life, a vicious social heredity
which has put a premium upon power and pushfulness, and an atmosphere of
competition in which capacity and cunning win the prize. It is, however,
not impossible to communicate to men a social vision which is able to
divert the natural energies of the human spirit into more generous
channels. This, did they but know it, is the peculiar vocation of the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account