Democratic Thought
New Defense Course Open to Seniors Stresses Fundamentals In Democratic Thought and Faith
AT THE REQUEST of the editors Mr. Wilson has written this description of the objectives of "Components of Democratic Thought,"one of seven courses approved bythe Committee on Defense Instruction and given for the first time thissemester.
DEMOCRATIC IDEAS ARE A CIRCULATING medium, coined in phrases like "freedom," "liberty," "human dignity," and "the rights of man." Dartmouth's new course in "Components of Democratic Thought" is attempting to show when these ideas were first minted, how general has been their circulation, what is their alloy content (if any), and whether counterfeiting is going on. To do this takes us a long way back in our cultural past, because the arduous and anxious history of man's efforts to achieve and maintain freedom reveals that democracy was a body of thought and a faith, before it became a process of government. It is an inspiring thing to remember how early and how great were the men (and how continuous has been the stream of their spiritual descendants) who were deeply concerned with the problems of freedom, and of the nature of man and his consequent rights. We hope that our students will share with us the exhilaration that comes from sensing the range and grandeur of the insights into life's meaning which are imbedded in the components of democratic thought.
The aim of the course was partially explained in last summer's Defense Bulletins: "Because Americans are descended from many and diverse racial groups, that which has bound them all together is not common blood but common beliefs. To secure national unity in the present emergency, citizens must become conscious of these common beliefs, analyze them, and test their validity, in order that they may be applied to present-day necessities of thought and action." The course is currently being taught, and will be repeated next semester. Registration is at present being limited to seniors, our theory being that in a course which would necessarily deal with so many ideas, all of them with shorter notice than they intrinsically merit, we needed mature students who are already well informed in many special fields, and are presumably capable of quickly comprehending the relationships of ideas. We hope that the course will prove itself to be, in its own necessarily restricted sphere, one of the means by which students in a democratic society may cooperate in integrating their ideas and organizing their outlook on life.
Besides the director, a dozen faculty members are giving special lectures in the course and conducting the class discussions immediately subsequent to their respective lectures. By thus cutting across departmental lines, we suggest to our students that all intellectual disciplines have a stake in democracy, and that all of them have something important to add to the common pool. We wish that it were feasible to include more topics and special lecturers, but we have had to limit ourselves, in the hope of preserving a fairly consistent unity of direction.
The first special lecture was given by Professor R. B. Chamberlin, Fellow in Religion, on the Old Testament tradition. Out of this tradition came ideas of the equality of all men in the eyes of God, and notions about the necessity of checking up on the behaviour of kings, ideas which eventually had great influence in the development of republican and democratic thought. Similarly, there were elements in Greek philosophy and political thought which have entered into the blood-stream of democratic thinking, as Professor R. C. Nemiah, of the Department of the Classics, has pointed out to us. Professor W. S. Messer, likewise of the Department of Classics, has discussed the Roman ideals of equity, humanity, and the rule of law. The director of the course lectured on the development of Stoicism and other postSocratic philosophies, and also on the history of the concept of natural law, with some discussion of its cogency and bearing today. Dr. A. W. Vernon, Professor-Emeritus of Biography, contributed a special lecture, entitled "Christianity and Democracy," in which were emphasized the democratic assumptions implicit or explicit in the teachings of Jesus and Paul. This part of the course was rounded out by a "panel" discussion, in which Professors Chamberlin, Messer, Nemiah, and Wilson took part.
GROWTH OF DEMOCRATIC TRADITION
G. C. Wood, Professor of Italian, lectures oil "The Mediaeval Synthesis," in which he demonstrates the important part ascribed to the individual in the thoughtpatterns of the Middle Ages. Other topics, carrying forward the history of democratic thought and dealt with in lectures by the director, are the growth of mediaeval parliaments; humanism; the Reformation; the English Revolution, Milton, and Locke; the growth of science, and eighteenth century thought; the French Revolution; nationalism and Joseph Mazzini; and how democratic modes of thought have been modified by Marxism. An important but unavoidably brief section of the course is devoted to the history of the democratic tradition in America. The Revolution and the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson and Jacksonian democracy will be discussed. Professor Donald Bartlett of the Department of Biography will lecture on Abraham Lincoln, and Professor K. A. Robinson of the Department of English will discuss "The American Dream." Professor A. H. Meneely of the Department of His Tory will lecture on Woodrow Wilson and the never-ending task of making the world safe for democracy.
Up to this point, most of our subject matter has been roughly chronological, our object being to remind the student how long and distinguished a career the ideas inherent in democratic thought have had. Now we come to a series of topics contemporaneous in outlook, serving to remind us once again that democracy is a philosophy integrated with all aspects of life, at the same time that it is also a process of government. Professor H. M. Bannerman of the Department of Geology will lecture on "Science, Freedom, and Democracy"; a lecture by the director will discuss the relation of democracy to art and education; Professor J. M. McDaniel of the Department of Economics will lecture on "Economic Democracy," paying special attention to race and labor problems. Professor E. R. Sikes, also of the Department of Economics, will analyze the problems of the standard of living and economic security in a lecture entitled "Is Democracy Efficient?" Professor Philip Wheelwright of the Department of Philosophy, in his lecture on "Democracy as Ideal and Democracy as Myth," will tackle the vexed problem of how to use the mythconcept without getting such an overdose that one falls into a convulsion of scepticism about everything. These topics will highlight one of the course's most fundamental assumptions, namely, that only by its constant extension can democracy be maintained.
At the very end of the course we shall have time for some student, elected by the class, to read a paper on the future program for international democracy. The next day the same procedure will be followed for the reading and discussion of a student paper on a future program for domestic democracy. The students elected for this semester are Senior Fellow Robert O. Blood Jr. '42, and William E. Uptegrove '42. First and last, we have allowed for active student participation in the course. Besides the two sessions just mentioned, and the three panels (for, besides the one mentioned above, Professors Bartlett, Robinson, and Wilson will form a second, and Professors Bannerman, McDaniel, Sikes and Wilson will compose a third), ten exercises are earmarked for class discussion. Each student will also write a term paper, on the democratic implications of whatever subject particularly interests him. This semester some of the topics already chosen are aspects of the history of natural law, the democratic assumptions in programs of regional planning, and the democratic theory contained in current trade-union educational pamphlets.
For part of the assigned reading we are using several of the essays contained in Freedom: its Meaning (Ruth Nanda Anshen, ed.; New York, 1940). Men like Croce, Dewey, Whitehead, Thomas Mann, Charles A. Beard, Bergson, and Einstein have contributed to this volume. Some of the other assigned readings are Dewey: Freedom and Culture-, Barzun: Of HumanFreedom-, selections from Plato; Cicero: De Legibus; St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians; Mann: The Coming Victory ofDemocracy, J. S. Mill: On Liberty- Milton: The Tenure of Kings and MagistratesThoreau: On Civil Disobedience; and Charles E. Merriam: What is Democracy? The usual hour-examination and final examination complete the requirements of the course.
One of the intellectual problems of every American today, as indeed of every person who opposes the totalitarian point of view, is this: When we believe in democracy, have we got hold of an eternal verity, or are we just making ourselves the dupes of a conservative tradition? All of us participating in the course agree with Plato that democracy is not ideal, but we nevertheless believe that it is better than any other political and social doctrine ever devised. A proof of the validity of the democratic point of view cannot be made by thumping a desk, or by spinning ideas out of one's head without checking them by the lessons of history.
The broad range of human experience seems to suggest that democracy is the social and political system most congenial to the nature of man, and we doubt whether anything can be said in defense of democracy more fundamental than that. Thus democratic thought suggests what is fundamental in democratic faith. This faith has had so long and so distinguished a career; it has provided the reason for living to so many great men of whom history is proudest; it so completely unifies and integrates one's outlook upon life, that the more we study it the more we are inclined to say: "This democratic faith of mine is more than just credulity. It is an intuition of supreme truth."
BOOKS USED IN NEW COURSE FOR SENIORS "COMPONENTS OF DEMOCRATIC THOUGHT"
PROFESSOR OF BIOGRAPHY
