Essay 55: How The Example Of The Americans Does Not Prove That A Democratic People Would Have Neither The Aptitude Nor The Taste For The Sciences, Literature, And The Arts (Vol. 2 Pt. 1 Ch. 9)

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The essays in our study reference the following edition of Democracy In America: University of Chicago Press – 1st edition translated by Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop. Today’s essay references pages 428 (Start at chapter 9 heading) – 433 (Stop at chapter 10 heading) (Stop at “Importance of what Precedes”) of this edition of Democracy in America.

In Volume 2, Chapter 9 of Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville challenges the beliefs of some European cynics of democracy that America’s equal political system suppresses or destroys interest in, and indeed the development of, sciences, literature, and arts.

De Tocqueville opens with the presumption “that among the civilized people of our day there are few in whom the advanced sciences have made less progress than in the United States, and who have furnished fewer great artists, illustrious poets, and celebrated writers.” The presumption, based on his observations in 1840, warrants additional scrutiny.

The presumption glosses over the then-contemporary and significant contributions of Americans such as Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Morse to science; Edgar Allan Poe, James Fenimore  Cooper, and Washington Irving to literature; and Morse, Gilbert Stuart, Charles Wilson Peale, and John Trumbull to art.

Second, the presumption ignores the fact that the population of the U.S. was then only about seventeen million people, about 10 percent of Western Europe’s population, and less than 2 percent of the world’s population.

Finally, the United States was then a young nation. 1840 was only 64 years after the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution, which formed the basis of the democratic federal government, was just 51 years old. Europe had centuries over which to develop its arts and sciences, which, as De Tocqueville notes, build upon each advance.

Regardless of De Tocqueville’s presumption’s accuracy, his analysis of the factors contributing to America’s limited presence in the arts, sciences, and literature are rational. Further, history supports his prediction that this limitation would be short-lived.

De Tocqueville’s basic argument was that democratic ideals were not at fault. Instead, he notes that America’s unique place in the world in 1840 was the reason for its intellectual deficiencies. He set forth several explanations of the uniqueness.

His first observation was that America’s puritanical roots were not conducive to intellectual endeavors. He also believed America’s expanse and individual opportunities to build new fortunes diverted attention away from arts and sciences. Lastly, he noted that Americans were already enlightened and had and could avail themselves of Europe’s “celebrated scholars, skillful artists, and great writers” without the need to cultivate their own intellectual class.

De Tocqueville next explained why he believed equality alone could not explain America’s lack of enlightened undertakings. He rationalized that despots might want to make all persons equal but deprive them of enlightenment which would leave “them ignorant … to keep them more easily as slaves.” He also noted that forced equality proposed by socialist theories of a central power which distributes goods “to all persons according to merit,” would be dangerous and devoid of enlightenment. These socialist ideals underly the governments of China, Cuba, North Korea, and the former Soviet Union.

De Tocqueville writes that when people “Who live in the heart of a democratic society are enlightened, they discover without difficulty that nothing limits or fixes them and forces them to content themselves with their present fortune.” The free people then seek to increase their fortunes, but natural inequality due to differing enlightened intelligence and diligence better rewards, some over others. After society has met its material needs, De Tocqueville suggests that the people will, in varying degrees, engage in “the works and pleasures of the intellect.” Over time, “[t]he number of those who cultivate the sciences, letters, and arts becomes immense.” While these works may be imperfect and individual efforts may be small, the sheer volume of the works will amalgamate into a great result.

After more than 180 years have passed since De Tocqueville’s writing, the freedom and enlightenment he discussed has resulted in a vast number of Americans engaged in “the works and pleasures of the intellect.” In turn, this engagement has yielded enormous gains in arts, literature, and sciences. The number of Nobel Prize awards in its six categories: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace, and economic sciences, is a simple metric that validates De Tocqueville’s postulation. The United States has received about 411 Nobel Prizes since the awards began in 1901, and the United Kingdom comes in a distant second with 137. Further, De Tocqueville’s belief that despotic or socialist societies are not conducive to the arts and sciences is substantiated by the fact that China, even with a population about 4 times that of the United States, falls way behind with only 8 Nobel laureates.

The freedom of equal opportunity that the United States offers is an incubator for advances in the arts, literature, and the sciences, and as Alexis de Tocqueville would say, Americans have both the aptitude and the taste for the sciences, literature, and the arts.

Frank M. Reilly is a partner in the Texas law firm of Potts & Reilly, LLP, a Texas judge, and teaches law related political science courses for Texas Tech University.

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