La democracia en América (II)
- Idioma:
- inglés
- Estado:
- Obra completa
- Autoría:
- Escrita por el autor
- Estado del texto:
- Texto limpio
- Extensión:
- ~150.000 palabras · 711 pasajes
Cita esta obra
- APAAlexis de Tocqueville. (n.d.). La democracia en América (II). SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/es/works/alexis-de-tocqueville/democracy-in-america-volume-2
- MLAAlexis de Tocqueville. "La democracia en América (II)." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/es/works/alexis-de-tocqueville/democracy-in-america-volume-2.
- ChicagoAlexis de Tocqueville. La democracia en América (II). SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/es/works/alexis-de-tocqueville/democracy-in-america-volume-2.
De qué trata
El segundo volumen, de 1840, donde Tocqueville deja las instituciones americanas y mira qué le hace la igualdad a la manera de pensar, de sentir y de vivir de un pueblo.
Contexto e historia
El primer volumen, de 1835, describe cómo funciona la democracia americana; este es más abstracto y más inquietante, y es el que ha envejecido mejor. Aquí están el individualismo —palabra que él ayudó a poner en circulación, y que no significa egoísmo sino repliegue sobre el círculo pequeño—, la tiranía de la mayoría sobre las opiniones, la tentación del despotismo suave que trata a los ciudadanos como menores bien cuidados, y la observación de que en una sociedad igual, cuantas menos diferencias quedan, más se notan. Es el volumen que se cita cuando se cita a Tocqueville sobre la democracia moderna.
Contexto editorial, no una fuente citable: a diferencia de los pasajes de la obra, estos datos no se pueden comprobar contra el corpus.
The Americans live in a democratic state of society, which has naturally suggested to them certain laws and a certain political character. This same state of society has, moreover, engendered amongst them a multitude of feelings and opinions which were unknown amongst the elder aristocratic communities of Europe: it has destroyed or modified all the relations which before existed, and established others of a novel kind. The--aspect of civil society has been no less affected by these changes than that of the political world. The former subject has been treated of in the work on the Democracy of America, which I published five years ago; to examine the latter is the object of the present book; but these two parts complete each other, and form one and the same work. I must at once warn the reader against an error which would be extremely prejudicial to me. When he finds that I attribute so many different consequences to the principle of equality, he may thence infer that I consider that principle to be the sole cause of all that takes place in the present age: but this would be to impute to me a very narrow view. A multitude of opinions, feelings, and propensities are now in existence, which owe their origin to circumstances unconnected with or even contrary to the principle of equality. Thus if I were to select the United States as an example, I could easily prove that the nature of the country, the origin of its inhabitants, the religion of its founders, their acquired knowledge, and their former habits, have exercised, and still exercise, independently of democracy, a vast influence upon the thoughts and feelings of that people.…