The Metaphysics of Democracy
Sixteen Vanderbilt students analyze 'human nature' as they strive to understand how to stay safe and free
The first class of “How American Democracy Thrives” this past Monday exceeded my expectations, as well as those of my co-professor Nick Zeppos. For two and a half hours, the students engaged the assigned readings (see below) energetically and critically.
The central questions in the room were “What is Democracy?” and “What Do We Do to Repair Ours?”
Remarkably, based on a close reading of James Madison’s Federalist No. 10, a recurrent theme was human nature. What is it? Does it incline more towards good or evil, and, vitally, what is the influence of leadership on human nature? Getting to the existential heart of the matter, we also explored the question, What drives human nature to the formation of violent faction?
The highlight of the class for me was a period of some 20-25 minutes when the students revealed their personal views, one-by-one, of what human nature is.
The question of how a democracy should be structured, we decided collectively, is at bottom one centered on a democratic peoples’ philosophical stance on human nature. So we embraced the challenge and went deep.
Fortunately, very few students tripped over the twinings and tendrils of “Good vs. Bad” that is so often the source of human conflict, polarization, disunion, and wars. They are too perceptive for that.
No one declared that human nature is “bad,” while many said it is “basically good.”
An equal number of students emphasized that human nature is grounded in “self-interest,” with one underscoring “self-preservation” as the master instinct.
This last distillation of human motivation and behavior reminded me of Richard Dawkins’ classic book The Selfish Gene, which likewise posits that genetic self-preservation explains all.
One student disagreed with the rest, propounding the relativist biological theory that “human nature does not exist”—that is, beyond the imitative instinct.
In response, we touched upon John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Steven Pinker’s The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature.
For the most part, the students came together to conclude that human nature is densely wired to distinguish “in-group” from “out-group,” and furthermore—of great interest to citizens wishing to live in a peaceful democracy—political leadership acts upon these built-in vulnerabilities to foster either harmony and cooperation or discord and bloodlust among the people.
Violent factions, in order words, are the product of demagogues, or “fire-eaters,” as the shrill Southern disunionists were called in the 1850s, who animate the savage brutes of our nature through rhetoric of hate, fear, anger, bigotry, and malediction.
Expanding on the intersection of leadership and individual and group human nature, many students openly pointed to demagogues and authoritarians as their No. 1 fear for American democracy today. One student recommended Amanda Montell’s book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, proposing that human nature creates a social psychology susceptible to the “cult of personality.”
We ended on the perennial stumbling block of unjust laws in a democracy—and what to do about them. Students put dissent, protest, and civil disobedience on the table, spotlighting Rosa Parks and MLK.
“I will gladly be arrested,” one young woman said of the courage required to stand up against unjust laws.
I felt heartened.
Thank you for reading, especially those of you who support my work with a small annual paid subscription. Your generosity empowers and galvanizes me.
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Readings for Class “What is Democracy?”:
Federalist No. 10, James Madison (New York Packet, 1787)
The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions, Abraham Lincoln (Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, January 27, 1838).
Principles of Democracy (Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State).
How to Save Democracy: Advice and Inspiration from 95 World Leaders, Edited and with an Introduction by Eli Merritt (Amplify, 2023). Students may pick up a copy of this book in the Dean’s office at Buttrick 350. Read the Preface and Introduction and peruse the quotations in order to formulate, from the many values and principles outlined in the readings, what you believe are the four cornerstones of democracy.
See my article below. It is a close reading of Fed#10 showing how Madison supported white supremacy
https://open.substack.com/pub/historyideasandlessons/p/federalist-10-revised-and-published?r=710fi&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web