Theodore Dalrymple's The Frivolity Of Evil

1137 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Short note on social evils

Theodore Dalrymple presents a deep vantage point of human misery in, ‘The Frivolity of Evil’ and dissects his experiences for us in a very pragmatic manner. The article examines various ways ‘evil’ can be found in modern society. Dalrymple’s article allows us a glimpse into the rawness that is humanity, and his observation of the moral decay in the lower class of society. Using medical cases and lifelong experience, Dalrymple’s lessons pulled at the sources of political evil, the befallen state of government welfare, and individualism in precipitating one’s own misery. His recount and observations supply us with answers to the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of human nature. Dalrymple raises several points on mankind’s propensity to spread evil. He recounts the political evil of “…civil war fought between guerrilla groups…” to “…[witnessing] the acme of tyranny” during his travel (1). His point of view supports that human barbarism creates horrendous crimes. The truly vile one, often from tyranny, suppresses the growth of a country and massacres innocent lives as a means to an end. These extreme cases are centered in war-torn countries, most often with a history of disagreement between different beliefs. In his example of the political evil and its …show more content…

Alexis de Tocqueville’s assessment of it maintained that there is a flaw: ‘…in ages of equality, every man seeks for his opinions within himself…in the same ages, all his feelings are turned towards himself alone.’ (Democracy in America). Tocqueville’s warning on democracy and individualism is that it is dangerous to society. In his article, he explains that when a large segment of the population is isolated and indifferent to the welfare of those around them; man would become unwilling and unable to band together to suppress evil. So exclusively do they attend to their own personal affairs (Democracy in

Show More
Related

  • An Analysis of Peter van Inwagen’s The Magnitude, Duration, and Distribution of Evil: a Theodicy

    2315 Words  | 5 Pages

    An Analysis of Peter van Inwagen’s The Magnitude, Duration, and Distribution of Evil: a Theodicy

    Read More

  • Tocqueville´s Faults of Democracy in America

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tocqueville seems to like democracy in its ideal form. However, nothing can be perfect and thus America is not a perfect democracy. Tocqueville found numerous problems with democracy and the influence it had on the populace. These problems range from their distrust of dogmatic beliefs to the imperfect equality that is in place in America. He also found the effects of these problems to be quite problematic as well. For instance, individualism, an effect of equality, is very problematic to democracy. Tocqueville enjoys considering America as an experiment in democracy, but does not find it to be faultless.

    Read More

  • Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America

    967 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alexis de Tocqueville's visit to the United States in the early part of the nineteenth century prompted his work Democracy in America, in which he expressed the ability to make democracy work. Throughout his travels Tocqueville noted that private interest and personal gain motivated the actions of most Americans, which in turn cultivated a strong sense of individualism. Tocqueville believed that this individualism would soon "sap the virtue of public life" (395) and create a despotism of selfishness. This growth of despotism would be created by citizens becoming too individualistic, and therefore not bothering to fulfill their civic duties or exercise their freedom. Tocqueville feared that the political order of America would soon become aimed at the satisfaction of individual needs, rather than the greater good of society. Alexis de Tocqueville viewed participation in public affairs, the growth of associations and newspapers, the principle of self-interest properly understood, and religion as the only means by which American democracy could combat the effects of individualism.

    Read More

  • Slavery In Alexis De Tocqueville's Democracy In America

    1281 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alexis De Tocqueville painted a portrait of a flourishing democracy within the text, Democracy in America. Tocqueville proposed that equality was one of the fundamental tenets that aided the success of American democracy. He defined equality of conditions as the end of aristocracy: “the noble has fallen on the social ladder, and the commoner has risen; the one descends, the other climbs. Each half century brings them nearer, and soon they are going to touch” (Democracy in America, book, 6). American democracy flourishes because there is an established equality of conditions for all; American democracy enforced the absence of formal rank and the end of births into positions of power while encouraging forms of power that challenged rank and privilege. However, in his analysis, Alexis De Tocqueville recognized the presence of race based inequality and cautioned that the reinforcement of a racial hierarchy could be detrimental to American democracy. Such observations characterize Tocqueville as insightful and

    Read More

  • To What Extent Was Jacksonian Democracy Democratic?

    1193 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tocqueville, a foreigner, came to the United States to study American prison reform, but was so disgusted with the way our society was and how our government functioned under Jackson that he changed the focus of his study to an analysis of democracy. He saw democracy by our example as “far from accomplishing all it projects with skill” and that “Democracy does not give people the most skillful government.” Jackson’s example of democracy was horrible.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Locke And Tocqueville

    1499 Words  | 3 Pages

    For both Tocqueville in his “Democracy in America” and Locke in his “Second Treatise of Civil Government”, liberty holds a place of paramount importance in the pantheon of political values, specifically those in relation to democratic and republican systems (though Locke does not explicitly demand a republic as Tocqueville does) . From Tocqueville’s belief in the supremacy of liberty over equality , to Locke’s inclusion and conflation of liberty with property and life itself in his natural rights , liberty plays the crucial role of linchpin in both author’s political philosophy. Though this belief in the centrality of liberty is found in both Tocqueville and Locke, they each derivate liberty from fundamentally disparate sources, and thus hold

    Read More

  • Alexis de Tocqueville?s Influence

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    In talking about the importance of forming associations in America, de Tocqueville says, “Americans of all ages, all stations of life, and all types of disposition are forever forming associations...In democratic countries knowledge of how to combine is the mother of all other forms of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all the others.” My belief is that he is saying that although f...

    Read More

  • Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy in America

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    Democracy in America has been a guiding principle since the foundation of the country. Many over the years have commented on the structure and formation of democracy but more importantly the implementation and daily function within the democratic parameters that have been set. Alexis de Tocqueville was a French political thinker and historian born July 29, 1805. He is most famously known for his work Democracy in America. Democracy in America has been an evolving social and economic reform, and has continually changed since it’s founding.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Frivolity of Evil

    1418 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his 2004 City Journal article, Theodore Dalrymple expresses his view on the tremendous decline in the quality of life in Great Britain. He believed that society has accepted the notion that people are not responsible for their own problems. Also, that it is the “moral cowardice of the intellectual and political elites” that perpetuates the social dynamics that are responsible for the continuing decline of British society. According to the author, a physician about to retire after a career treating criminal justice offenders and victims, there are several pervasive misconceptions that explain the continuing decline of British society.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons De Tocqueville

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    America is viewed around the world as the land of opportunities, where anyone willing to work hard and help their neighbor is welcomed with open arms. The one thing that many seek out of the United States is the equality and natural rights bestowed upon all in the Bill of Rights. Alexis de Tocqueville, a French diplomat, wrote about the United States and the basic founding principles of its democracy as well as how the people of America utilize their rights to create a better common good for everyone. The communal effort, to Tocqueville, symbolized an equality of conditions that would slowly filter itself into law, creating laws for the betterment of society as a whole and not just the individual. He also believes that the progress of equality

    Read More

  • Minority Rule in America

    389 Words  | 1 Pages

    Alexis de Tocqueville discussed how he believed that majority rules in the United States. He writes about how the majority in America has control over the opinions of the masses and how people do not think for themselves. The latter part of that is true. The masses do not form many of their own opinions but these opinions are not given to them, like Tocqueville says, by the majority. These "ready made opinions" (Tocqueville 11) are given to American people by a powerful few. Tocquville's writing does not apply to the US today because several kinds of minorities wield inordinate amounts of power in modern American society.

    Read More

  • Materialism and Religion in Alexis De Tocqueville's Democracy in America

    1477 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...re importantly, it tries to give democracy a good name at a time when democracy, rule by the people, was feared in Europe and the rest of the world. Democracy in America shows us how each society has certain habits that contribute to its definition of democracy. These habits, some of which are good and some bad, check each other to a balance of normalcy in which everyone has opportunity, safety, and potential progress in society. It shows us that democracy incorporates many “habits of the heart” and aggregates them to a common equality, making it an irresistible force in the world. Conversely, the “habits” of the people change over time. So, what Democracy was in America when Tocqueville visited may not be the same as that today or in the future. However, materialism and religion still play key roles in American democracy as a passion and a temper to that passion.

    Read More

  • Constitutionalism: The Tyranny Of The Majority

    371 Words  | 1 Pages

    In this excerpt from Democracy in America Alexis Tocqueville expresses his sentiments about the United States democratic government. Tocqueville believes the government's nature exists in the absolute supremacy of the majority, meaning that those citizens of the United States who are of legal age control legislation passed by the government. However, the power of the majority can exceed its limits. Tocqueville believed that the United States was a land of equality, liberty, and political wisdom. He considered it be a land where the government only served as the voice of the its citizens. He compares the government of the US to that of European systems. To him, European governments were still constricted by aristocratic privilege, the people had no hand in the formation of their government, let alone, there every day lives. He held up the American system as a successful model of what aristocratic European systems would inevitably become, systems of democracy and social equality. Although he held the American democratic system in high regards, he did have his concerns about the systems shortcomings. Tocqueville feared that the virtues he honored, such as creativity, freedom, civic participation, and taste, would be endangered by "the tyranny of the majority." In the United States the majority rules, but whose their to rule the majority. Tocqueville believed that the majority, with its unlimited power, would unavoidably turn into a tyranny. He felt that the moral beliefs of the majority would interfere with the quality of the elected legislators. The idea was that in a great number of men there was more intelligence, than in one individual, thus lacking quality in legislation. Another disadvantage of the majority was that the interests of the majority always were preferred to that of the minority. Therefore, giving the minority no chance to voice concerns.

    Read More

  • The Views Of Alexis De Tocqueville And Karl Marx

    959 Words  | 2 Pages

    De Tocqueville’s argument was between equality versus individualism. He describes individualism as “a calm and considered feeling which disposes each citizen to isolate himself from the mass of his fellows and withdraw into the circle of family and friends” (De Tocqueville, 506). His perspective was that individualism empowers people to become competent but also strengthens and reassures society to work with the others in the community to magnify the possibilities for humans. As stated by Professor Veugelers “De Tocqueville happened to see that the inequality between the rich and the poor became more restricted, and thought that at some point the gap will close.”

    Read More

  • Essay On Alexis De Tocqueville Equality Of Conditions

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Running through the pages of our history, there is hardly an important event in the last seven hundred years which has not turned out to be advantageous for equality. ”(11) Democracy, or as defined by Alexis De Tocqueville “equality of conditions” arose due to various seemingly unrelated events; which played an immense role in shaping the world we live in today. Tocqueville accentuates the parallel between the rise of democracy and the formation of equality, which arose due to the disintegration of aristocracy as well as the establishment of democratic liberty through municipal intuitions.

    Read More

More about Theodore Dalrymple's The Frivolity Of Evil

Open Document