Chapter 6 Part I: The Influence of Democracy on the Intellectual Activities of Americans

Americans' lack of interest in philosophical schools has led them to have no classified philosophical schools, and they are even more indifferent to the chaotic and contentious schools of thought in Europe, and even disdain to know their names. But none of this means that there is no common philosophical approach among Americans.This is because the following principles of method affect their thinking and action: free and uncontrolled thought, free from the shackles of custom, free from family rules and class ideas, free from deep national prejudices; seeing tradition as a habit seek innovation and improvement through the study and research of existing facts; rely on one's own strength and practice to explore the causes of things; pay attention to results rather than sticking to means; go deep into the essence without paying too much attention to the form.

From the epistemological point of view, Americans belong to the cognizance.What they firmly believe is that everything can be known and explained.The incomprehensible does not exist in their eyes, and the bizarre and supernatural things make them even more contemptuous.They not only establish the rules of judgment on their own, but also seek to solve all difficulties encountered in real life independently. From the point of view of the thinking characteristics of understanding things, Americans value the essence and despise the form.The knowledge they firmly believe in makes them work hard to uncover the veil of the essence of things and remove all obstacles that prevent them from approaching the essence of things, so as to make the essence of things clear.For them, form is a nasty roadblock blocking their access to truth.

In short, Americans find their philosophical methods from their own practice, and their philosophical methods have never come from books. The dogmatic beliefs common to different ages differ only in the amount of belief. So, what exactly is dogmatic belief?Dogmatic beliefs are beliefs that are accepted without demonstration or proof. The existence of this belief is inevitable and reasonable.And everyone uses their own ideas to seek the truth, which inevitably leads to the difficulty of uniting people under a common belief.A society cannot thrive, or even exist, without a common belief.Without common thinking, there will be no common action, human existence is isolated, and it is impossible to establish organic connections among people, and it is impossible to form a society.Therefore, dogmatic belief is necessary both for the individual and for the whole.

However, with the development of civil society and the enhancement of people's equality, few people blindly believe in a specific person or class.Dogmatic beliefs will thus weaken, and public opinion will gradually become the common belief that governs society, and becomes the sole guide of individual reason.In democracies, when men are equal, no one has to rely on the other; the public judgment is almost the private judgment, and the individual has infinite confidence in it, even as truth. Providing credible public opinion to individuals is one of the obligations of most of society, especially in the United States.And this insight is a dogmatic belief that encompasses a rich variety of philosophy, morality, politics, and religion.The unlimited authority possessed by the majority in the United States not only contributed to the emergence of dogmatic beliefs unique to the United States, but also strengthened the influence of such beliefs on people's spiritual world through public opinion.But if we stay here, we will not be able to find the fundamental factors that determine the emergence and function of the common faith in the United States, and we need to go further to explore the root of equality.

In most cases, people start to recognize things from the surface, and after finding similarities, they will give this kind of things a common name, and then use this as an example to examine other things.And the resulting names are the rudiments of general ideas.The advantage of the general concept is that it allows people to make quick judgments on a large number of things in a short period of time; its disadvantage is that it only provides people with incomplete concepts about things, which cannot be accurately understood and grasped. The real, detailed state of things. There are marked differences in the application of general ideas at the social level.In the social background where people's identities are extremely unequal, the long-term existence of inequality has gradually strengthened the differences between people, resulting in as many classes as there are people.Under such circumstances, it is impossible for general concepts to be widely used to examine society.Because people often pay attention to individual people and individual classes, rather than general people and all classes that have a general relationship in the social whole.

On the contrary, the equality among people in a democratic society will not allow people to focus on a small group of people, but to focus on the whole society and human beings with an open and broad perspective.In their eyes, all truths that apply to individuals also have profound effects on society and humanity as a whole.General concepts are not only a cognitive tool for them to observe society, but also a cognitive tool for them to engage in specific work, and even a way of thinking that runs through study, work, and life.Its greatest feature is to summarize a large number of things under the same name, to find out the common rules that all things follow, and to search for a unified explanation for countless facts.

As explained above, people in a democratic country do not use general concepts to understand society and things as they observe political aspects.For example, while Americans adopt general ideas heavily in legislation and practice, their political organization does not promote general ideas or blindly believe in any one theory.Because for those Americans who regard democracy as their national nature, they prefer to directly participate in the management of public affairs. Unwilling to waste time on particular problems, people in democracies pursue general ideas, especially general ideas that are readily available.But this is only one aspect of the problem, and this fact only occurs when they often think or must think.Blind and excessive pursuit of general ideas on some issues is extremely dangerous, especially when politics are involved.

Therefore, they can only study every detail of the problem in depth to prevent such dangers. In the process of understanding the details, they discover the shortcomings of the familiar theories.Thus, in a democracy, in which every citizen is obliged to take an actual part in the administration of government, there is a natural tendency to restrain an excessive love for general theory in politics. The so-called worldview is a concept that materializes any action of people.This concept includes his views on the relationship between God and people, the relationship between people and society, and his views on his own life.It is the common source of human thought and action.

People's unswerving ideas on the three major issues of the relationship between man and nature, man and society, and man and his inner world constitute his world outlook.If his world view is shaken, his thoughts and actions will be at the mercy of accidental factors, falling into chaos and powerlessness. Clear, precise, intelligible and permanent answers to the above three fundamental questions are the primary goal and main benefit of religion.While equality brings great benefits to people, it also allows people to develop individualism in the process of independence, that is, narrow thinking of self-care; this also makes the freed mind infected by indulging in material enjoyment.Therefore, in a democratic society, religion also plays a role in stimulating human nature to be public and temperate nature.

The greatest benefit of religion lies in tranquilizing the mind, sublimating the soul, and cultivating people's hearts to be kind, public and generous.Although it cannot make people give up the love of money, it can make people try their best to get rich by legitimate means; although it cannot make people stop the desire for pleasure, it can control, purify and adjust these preferences very well. So instead of opposing all the instincts of democracy, religion uses and absorbs some of them, and then plays a balancing role of restraining people's democratic passions. Equality, an ideological concept that is not incompatible with religious authority, makes people independent, but it does not allow people to have a unified, single, and equal right to everyone in society.This is especially true in matters of religion.In a democratic society, if people want to obey the authority of a certain religion, then it must be ensured that this religious authority is unique.This stems from the spiritual discomfort brought about by the religion of multiple power centers.In their view, no religion is better than multiple religions at the same time.

Today, although it seems to me that Catholics are not as devout as they used to be, their followers have greatly increased with the conversion of Christian Protestants.Therefore, in terms of religious piety, Catholicism seems to be declining; but in terms of the number of believers, it seems to be advancing. Equality of status seems to people in a democracy to narrow the gap between them, individuals tend to be small and powerless, and people are more accustomed to valuing the whole rather than the individual.They are increasingly inclined to think about human beings as a whole. This has also led to people's spiritual concepts increasingly seeking a unified concept.And people will store the found concepts in their hearts, and seek dependence and sustenance from them.In the process of pursuing this concept, people not only attributed the creation of the universe to a creator, but also simplified the creator and the universe into a single whole.And based on this single whole to construct a philosophical system at the spiritual level, this also makes people gradually accept the understanding of the universe, allowing people to enjoy full pleasure and satisfaction at the spiritual level. Among the many philosophical systems that explain the world, pantheism is suitable to win over the hearts of people in a democratic society. Equality changes people's existing ideas in the process of driving people to form new ideas in their minds. The constant self-improvement and development of man is a unique characteristic compared with animals.The notion of striving for one's own perfection is almost as old as humanity itself.Equality did not create the idea, but gave it a new character. Societies with unequal status bring people together because of class, occupation, and origin, thereby establishing the trajectory of each person's life, and resisting these fates is powerless. With the disappearance of ranks, the integration of classes, and the increasing equality of people, social customs, etiquette, laws, and popular sentiments are constantly optimized and improved in a democratic society with equal status.These provide good social conditions for people's all-round development and self-realization, and this concept of pursuing self-infinite perfection is further strengthened in people's hearts. The superiority of Americans to get rich comes largely from the unique natural environment and land advantages of the United States.Americans have strong greed and the ambition to pursue wealth while they have a fantasy-loving and rational thinking mind.The combination of subjective and objective conditions has made almost all Americans engaged in industry and commerce. Due to the above reasons, it seems that Americans only pay attention to pure material aspects, religion is just a rest for body and mind after busy work, and the present world is the only focus of their lives.But after a deep examination, you will find that this view is not true. The same instinct for intellectual activity and spiritual pleasure exists in people who are busy with material life and the pursuit of wealth.The goal of material utility is limited for human beings, while the infinite is the pursuit of spirit and beauty.The finite makes one satisfied, and the infinite makes one transcend.When people's hearts have been filled with material enjoyment, it begins to fervently pray for spiritual comfort. Therefore, it is impossible for us to linger only on the material aspects of life. Even the simplest and most simple craftsmen will covet the richness and beauty of those advanced spiritual worlds in their spare time.Many people may not read books with the attitude of doing research and learning, but the range of people who read books will gradually expand and eventually reach the whole people.Because people have both material needs and spiritual needs, only when both are met can people's minds not be deformed and their hearts be peaceful. Material life and spiritual life complement each other and are indispensable, and material pursuits and spiritual pursuits are not contradictory.In the eyes of Americans, the desire to get rich is the same as the desire to know about science, literature and art, and they study science, literature and art in their own way. Most people in the United States are more interested in the research of applied science, and few people are interested in those pure theory and abstract science.For theoretical knowledge, only pay attention to the part that is directly connected with practical application.These phenomena are found in all democracies, but not as good as in the United States. The advanced intellectual activity of contemplation is the premise of conducting research on the basic theories and essential content of science.But in a democratic society, few can create conditions and environments suitable for contemplation.This is because those citizens of a democratic society are actively busy all the time: those who seek power, those who are desperate to get rich, a scene of bustling and intrigue.Here, you don't see the quiet necessary for people to think deeply, nor can you sit down and meditate on abstract theories undisturbed in a crowded and restless environment. Therefore, living in such an environment is not only difficult to contemplate, it is even more difficult to value contemplation.Because they have neither the time nor the desire to delve deeply into an idea, which only deprives them of the opportunity to take advantage of it and put it into action quickly, and in their eyes, it is more important to seize the opportunity to use the idea than to explore it. as important.That is, it is far more worthwhile to take the risk of exploiting a principle that may be wrong than to waste time trying to prove that the principle is correct.What's more, the whole world itself is constantly changing, and there is no conclusive theory that can serve as its basis. Therefore, when people submerged by the busy torrent are satisfied with quick and superficial knowledge, profound and time-consuming intellectual activities cannot be favored by people. On the other hand, things have two sides.Since in a democratic society people can and will use knowledge to improve the practical application of science, why not make the most of it and avoid its disadvantages?In other words, based on this characteristic, the government needs to devote all its power to supporting advanced scientific research and cultivating enthusiasm for scientific research, instead of doing what people are already actively doing. In today's era, the best way to let people pay attention to theory and naturally transition to practice as needed instead of just pursuing the research of the applied part is to temporarily abandon the research that is only keen on the secondary function, and reflect on the fundamental purpose of our pursuit of function. What is this problem. For democracies, the arts that make life more comfortable than the arts that adorn life should be developed first and foremost.This is because the wealth of the people in these countries is relatively large, and there are few remaining items. What people need most is a comfortable life, so they mainly pursue practicality, and their love of beauty is only to satisfy luxury items other than practicality, or they hope Beautiful things are also practical in themselves. In this context, craftsmen produce handicrafts and then want to sell them to consumers. They need to endow their commodities with practical value, and then strive to make them have beautiful forms.For this reason, they falsified and deceived the craftsmanship, and even endangered the craftsmanship itself. For example, the abundance of counterfeit diamonds on the market today that are difficult to distinguish from real fakes has gradually made people lose interest in them, and then these diamonds have become ordinary pebbles.To sum up, when people only pay attention to the beautiful and pleasing appearance and abandon the pursuit of great essence, art will only focus on shaping the image instead of reflecting the inner soul, because the ideal has been replaced by the practical. Of all the nations of the world, the citizens of democracies are so small and powerless in comparison with other nations, that they themselves think so; but other nations are not as strong as democracies, and their citizens share the same opinion .Therefore, when they build their own houses, they are accustomed to make them commonplace, but when they build public buildings, they always try to make them appear grand. For the United States, the capital is a perfectly planned and rich city. In the city center, there is a building dedicated to Congress - the magnificent Capitol.The states are also building or planning to build some huge projects every day, the scale of which has amazed engineers from major European countries. So, in a democracy, countless small and ordinary artifacts are produced, and at the same time, large-scale buildings are built, and there are no objects to fill the gap between the two extremes.But no matter how impressive these magnificent buildings are, it does not mean that the people who stand in them are the happiest, the most civilized, and the most powerful.They are not objective criteria for judging a country's strength. But from another point of view, if the Romans had been more committed to inventing the steam engine, they might not have spent their energy on building this "all roads lead to Rome" Roman road.This "grand project" that is now only for future generations to pay homage to is not only proving the greatness of the Romans, but also proving the ignorance of the Romans. There are only three categories of books you'll find in US bookstores.The first is the pile of primary reading materials, which introduce people to various basic knowledge, most of which come from reprints published in Europe.Followed by the vast sea, countless religious books.Finally, there is not a small number of political pamphlets. Among the many civilized countries in the contemporary era, although Americans also care more about spiritual life, they are the least concerned about the field of literature.Most of the books that satisfy people's spiritual needs come from the UK. They draw nutrition from English literature every day, and even develop English literature on American soil. Strictly speaking, Americans do not really have a literature of their own.Perhaps only journalists can be called true writers in America.This is because only these people are conveying knowledge and voice to the American people in their own language.As for other literary authors, although they express people's spirit in their own way, in essence, they are foreigners in the United States. . Compared with the aristocratic age, the literature of the democratic age not only does not like to describe order, law, science and art, but also does not care about its form.This kind of literature is not only chaotic and mixed in style, but also focuses on speed, and the writing lacks delicate touch.Its style of writing is rough and outrageous, and the novelty of narrative is more important than that of educated people.The purpose of these so-called writers is not to give people the enjoyment of beauty, but to try to limit people to excitement and restlessness.From the above aspects, before understanding the writers and literature in the democratic era, we must first understand the social and political conditions of the country where the literature was produced.Without a certain understanding of the creative environment and social conditions, it is impossible to truly grasp the content and characteristics of the author and his works. Under the gestation of the democratic system, the industrial class not only sprouted a literary hobby, but also produced a new connotation for this hobby, because they introduced a spirit that can make literature exude a commercial atmosphere into the literary world-commercial spirit. Readers in aristocratic society are not only picky, but very few.If a writer wants to be successful, he has to work hard and sweat, and hard work can't make them rich. The only thing they can gain is the praise and honor given by a few readers. In a democratic society, readers are not only numerous, but also simple.A writer only needs to cater to the readers but does not need real talent. He can not only gain fame because of being popular, but also earn a lot of money to enrich his pockets.Here, the literary world and the business world have established a close relationship, and writers have begun to regard literature as business, and let literature put on the cloak of business.And there, some great writers are far more effective than thousands of idea peddlers. Books in ancient society were scarce and expensive, and publishing was even more difficult.This also makes it possible for only a few people to have the conditions to love and enjoy literature, and these few people come from the small aristocratic literary alliance in the big aristocratic political group.In the society at that time, the ancient Greeks and Romans would not consider writing as a business. In a democratic society, the interests of the individual and the interests of society demand that the state give first priority to education in science, business, and industry, and education in literature second.Therefore, a highly developed literature can only be produced after a highly developed economy. In this way, drawing nourishment from the works of antiquity is the main path of the person who wants to practice literature in a democratic country, and it may be the most feasible and beneficial method at the same time.Although the ancient works still have some flaws, they can make up for the unique shortcomings of the current society after all, and it can help us get from the wrong path to the right path as soon as possible. In the continuous movement within a democratic society, people's thoughts and things are changing, and various new ideas emerge one after another, gradually replacing traditional ideas.All these changes are reflected in the language people use, causing the language itself to change. In the languages ​​of democracies, some words have been thrown out of the historical stage and thrown into the trash, while some words have been endowed with new meanings.At the same time, as people's ideas change, new words are gradually emerging. In these countries, not only the formulation of all laws comes from the majority of the society, but even the rules for the use of language must be formulated by the majority.The will of the majority determines all aspects of society, including language. But most people in society are busy with business and government affairs, so the words created and used by these people naturally bear the imprint of political life and business life. These words are originally intended to express industrial activities, party sentiments and government affairs details.Language innovations in these fields will increase in the future, but languages ​​in the fields of philosophy and theology will gradually be abandoned. Poetry is used to describe and express ideals.Therefore, to explore the source of poetry creation in a democratic country, we can only dig and find it from the ideals displayed by the national actions, feelings and concepts.People in these countries not only enjoy pleasure and hope to improve their living conditions, but also hope to succeed in competition, and they make their careers the center of their lives.People's main energies are devoted to the pursuit of their careers, and even their imaginations are at the service of it, and what they reproduce in their imaginations are almost all things that have practical uses in reality. People in a democratic society are very similar and ordinary, and each person can learn from himself by mirroring the actual situation of other people.Therefore, ordinary individuals cannot become subjects for poets to express their ideals.The emergence of equality in society has dried up the traditional wellspring of poetry. So where can new sources of poetry be tapped?Those talented poets found the answer in their yearning for nature.Nature is the source of poetry, and the endless passions, doubts, pains, and joys that people display in nature become the main and even the only source of poetry in democratic countries. In the process of getting in touch with Americans, I found that the conversations of Americans in daily life are simple and easy to understand without using any flowery rhetoric, even simple to the point of vulgarity.But when Americans are about to make poetic remarks in public, they immediately exaggerate, and their speeches are full of flowery words. What is the reason for this?This comes from their habits.In a democratic society, every citizen pays close attention to the trivial matters related to him, and at the same time, he will also open his eyes and look up at the huge image of the whole society and all mankind.Their concepts are either specific and clear, or general and vague, without the slightest fusion of the two aspects. It is also a powerful explanation of why people in democracies, obsessed with their own trivialities, demand that their poets paint exaggeratedly on the basis of observation. Therefore, I am neither afraid that the poetry of a democratic country is ashamed to express, nor that it is too close to the world.My greatest fear is that it is full of empty, disconnected preaching and grotesque descriptions piled up with flowery words. In a democratic country, the people's love for literature and art and their instinct to engage in literary and artistic activities are concentrated in drama.Drama clearly reflects the strengths and weaknesses of literature and art in a democratic society.The people of these countries do not attach much importance to literature, nor do they show any special respect for the ancient cultures of Rome and Greece.They only want writers who make telling about themselves the point of their writing.They especially like to reproduce the worldly conditions that they are familiar with in life: characters of different origins, various feelings and thoughts.This makes the drama of a democratic society more accessible, more realistic, and more moving than previous dramas. Needless to say, people still read and enjoy the great playwrights of the past, but they no longer enjoy watching plays performed by the people of the past.The great playwrights have survived through the books, not the theatre. Most historians in the democratic era have a completely opposite tendency: on the one hand, they believe that the power of one person is not enough to affect the fate of the entire human race, and similarly, a few citizens cannot shake the fate of the entire country; Use general causes to explain almost all specific events.Why does this happen? The reason is that in a democratic country, the individual's influence on the fate of the country is not only accidental and secondary, but also changeable, complex and mysterious. Historians cannot use a clear and satisfactory method to explain a person's influence on the development of the country and society. influence, their studies have always ended in confusion and boredom, so much so that they have to deny its existence. Therefore, when historians can do nothing about the method of personal influence, they begin to shift the research focus to general reasons, trying to use general reasons to explain countless specific problems that are difficult to explain clearly, and finally use this general reason As the main line, build a large system and include all kinds of facts in this system. Historians refuse to recognize the great contributions made by some citizens to the country and the nation because of their own lack of ability, and what they can do is to examine people in different historical stages in turn, connecting one event after another until the origin of the world, Finally, the above discoveries are cast into a large interlocking chain, so that all events in human history can correspond to a specific chain one by one, so that history can be displayed in their seemingly organic connections. On the surface, the citizens of a democratic country are all moving towards the same goal, but through the surface and deep down, everyone is moving forward on their own.They prefer to be self-centered rather than directed by others.The custom of self-will was also brought into Congress.There, even if people are willing to unite and take common actions, everyone will reserve the right to be the master of themselves, and hope to pursue the final result according to the methods they propose. The impetus for whether an American congressman can do a certain job by himself comes from his influence and status in Congress.Therefore, striving for a position in the parliament has become a goal of the intrigue among members of parliament, trying to promote their own opinions and finally implement them.Part of the reason for doing this is to bring glory to yourself, but more is for your own voters.Because he must ensure the support of voters in the areas he represents.If his actions cannot be supported by voters, he will lose the election. Members of Congress are not only the country's legislators, but also the main person responsible for safeguarding the interests of their constituencies in terms of legislation.The supporters of the corresponding constituency regard him as their own agent, and believe that he will safeguard the interests of the constituency with the same enthusiasm as safeguarding the interests of the country. In order to enable the representatives they elect to better protect their own interests, voters agree that the MP they elect must be an eloquent orator and must be able to seize every opportunity to speak. Even in the limited speaking time, they can express their concerns and inquiries about national affairs, especially the grievances and demands of their regions, and try to express them concisely.Only such people can be re-elected as their representatives.