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The Human Condition: Philosophical Issues Tyranny & Despotism Tyranny & Despotism Index Select a Feature... Philosophy Main Page General Resources Philosophy Glossary Resources: Ancient Philosophy Resources: Medieval Philosophy Resources: Modern Philosophy Resources: Recent Philosophy Philosophical Quotations Philosophical Issues Articles & Essays Philosophy Mini-Courses The Human Condition Main Index Philosophy Resource Center Main Page
Academy Resources Glossary of Philosophical Terms Timeline of Philosophy A Timeline of American Philosophy Diagram: Development of Philosophic Thought Diagram: Divisions of Philosophy The Philosophy Resource Center The Religion Resource Center Books about Philosophy in The Radical Academy Bookstore Books about Religion in The Radical Academy Bookstore Click Here for New & Used College Textbooks at Discount Prices Click Here for College Education Information & Study Resources Shop Amazon Stores in the Radical Academy Bookstore Magazine Outlet Music Store Classical Music Store Video Store DVD Store Computer Store Camera & Photo Store Computer/Video Games Software Store Musical Instruments Outlet Store Cellular Phones Toys & Games Tools & Hardware Automotive Store Outdoor Living Consumer Electronics Home & Garden Kitchen & Housewares Baby Superstore Apparel & Accessories Gourmet Food Grocery Store Sporting Goods Jewelry & Watches Health & Personal Care Beauty Store		Mortimer Adler: On Totalitarianism   The word "totalitarianism" was first used in the twentieth century by Hannah Arendt in a book entitled Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). But the first appearance of the concept, if not the word, occurred in 1835 in Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Chapter VI of Part Four in that work is entitled "What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear." There he says. "I think, then, that the species of oppression by which democratic nations are menaced is unlike anything which ever before existed in the world; our contemporaries will find no prototype of it in their memories. I seek in vain for an expression which will accurately convey the whole of the idea I have formed of it; the old words 'despotism;: and 'tyranny' are inappropriate. The thing itself is new, and, since I cannot name [it]. I must attempt to define it." Tocqueville not only had the correct idea of the despotism he feared might arise in the future, but he also had an understanding of how it might come about. He pointed out that the despotism of Louis XIV in France arose when the monarch commanded all the nobles of France to live at Versailles, whereas previously they represented secondary instruments of government by ruling in their feudal domains. The despotism of the king was thus alleviated. Tocqueville proposed that in the democracies of the future, associations of private citizens should function as secondary instruments of government, to avoid a similar concentration of power. He developed this point in chapter VII. Generalized, the point is expressed by Abraham Lincoln in his statement that the federal government should do for the people only those things which the people cannot do for themselves, either individually or collectively in their private associations. This is the principle of subsidiarity. The private associations may be associations for profit or they may be philanthropic associations, but they should operate to prevent the concentration of all power, both political and economic, in the hands of the central government. Tyranny & Despotism Index Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Book... Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Magazine... Academy Showcase Specials The Human Condition Main Index Philosophy Resource Center Main Page
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