Philosophy and Democracy - School of Social Science

Philosophy and Democracy Author(s): Michael Walzer Reviewed work(s): Source: Political Theory, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Aug., 1981), pp. 379-399 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: . Accessed: 24/08/2012 12:04 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@. .

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PHILOSOPHY AND DEMOCRACY

MICHAEL WALZER Institutfeor AdvancedStudies,Princeton

I.

The prestigeof politicalphilosophyis veryhighthesedays.It commands the attentionof economistsand lawyers,the two groupsof academicsmostcloselyconnectedto theshapingofpublicpolicy,as it has not done in a long time.And it claimstheattentionof political leaders,bureaucratsa,ndjudges,mostespeciallyjudges,witha newand radicalforcefulnessT.he commandand theclaimfollownotso much fromthefactthatphilosophersare doingcreativework,butfromthe factthattheyare doingcreativeworkof a specialsort-which raises again, aftera long hiatus,the possibilityof findingobjectivetruths, "truemeaning,"rightanswers,"thephilosopher'stone,"and so on. I wantto acceptthispossibility(withoutsayingverymuchaboutit)and thenask whatitmeansfordemocraticpolitics.Whatisthestandingof thephilosopherin a democraticsociety?Thisis an old question;there are old tensionsat workhere:betweentruthand opinion,reasonand will,valueand preferencet,heoneandthemany.Theseantipodalpairs differfromone another,and none of themquite matchesthe pair "philosophyand democracy."Buttheydo hangtogethert;heypointtoa centralproblem.Philosophercslaima certainsortofauthorityfortheir conclusions;the people claim a differenstort of authorityfortheir decisions.Whatis therelationbetweenthetwo?

I shallbeginwitha quotationfromWittgensteitnhatmightseemto resolve the problemimmediately".The philosopher,"Wittgenstein wrote,"is nota citizenofanycommunityofideas.Thatis whatmakes himintoa philosopher."T' hisis morethanan assertionofdetachment initsusualsense,forcitizensaresurelycapable,sometimeso,fdetached judgmentseven of theirown ideologies,practices,and institutions. Wittgensteiins assertinga moreradicaldetachmentT.hephilosopheris and mustbe an outsiders;tandingapart,notoccasionally(injudgment) butsystematicall(yin thought)I. do notknowwhetherthephilosopher

POLITICAL THEORY, Vol. 9 No. 3, August 1981379-399 ? 1981Sage Publications,Inc.

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380 POLITICAL THEORY / AUGUST 1981

has to be a politicaloutsider.Wittgensteidnoes say anycommunity, and thestate(polis,republicc, ommonwealthk,ingdomo, rwhateveri)s certainlya communityof ideas. The communitiesof which the philosopheris mostimportantlnyota citizenmay,ofcourse,be larger or smallerthanthe state.That willdependon whathe philosophizes about.Butifheisa politicalphilosopher-notwhatWittgensteihnadin mind-thenthestateis themostlikelycommunityfromwhichhewill have to detach himself,not physicallyb, ut intellectuallyand, on a certainviewof moralitym, orallytoo.

Thisradicaldetachmenhtastwoformsa,nd I shallbeconcernedwith onlyone of them.The firstformis contemplativaend analytic;those whoparticipatein ittakeno interesitnchangingthecommunitywhose ideas theystudy."Philosophyleaveseverythinags it jS."2 The second formis heroic. I do not want to deny the heroic possibilitiesof contemplationand analysis.One can alwaystake pridein wrenching onselfloose fromthebondsofcommunityit;is noteasyto do,and many importantphilosophicalachievement(sand all thevarietiesofphilosophicalarrogance)havetheiroriginsin detachmentB. utI wantto focus on a certaintraditionofheroicaction,alive,itseems,in ourowntime, wherethephilosopherdetacheshimselfromthecommunityofideasin orderto founditagain-intellectuallyandthenmateriallytoo,forideas have consequences,and everycommunityof ideas is also a concrete communityH. e withdrawsand returns.He is like the legislatorsof ancientlegend,whoseworkprecludesordinarycitizenship.3

in thelonghistoryofpoliticalthoughtt,hereis an alternativteothe detachmentof philosophersa,nd thatis theengagementof sophists, criticsp, ublicistsa,nd intellectualsT.o besure,thesophistswhomPlato attackswerecitilessmen,itinerantteachersb, uttheywerebyno means strangerisntheGreekcommunityofideas. Theirteachingdrewupon, was radicallydependentupon,theresourcesofa commonmembership. In thissense,Socrateswas a sophist,thoughitwas probablycrucialto hisownunderstandinogfhismissiona,s criticandgadflyt,hathealso be a citizen:theAthenianswouldhavefoundhimlessirritatinhgad henot been one of theirfellows.But thenthe citizenskilledSocrates,thus demonstratingit,is sometimesaid,thatengagemenatndfellowshipare notpossibleforanyonecommittedto thesearchfortruthP. hilosophers cannot be sophists.For practicalas well as intellectuarl easons,the distancethattheyputbetweenthemselveasnd theirfellowcitizensmust be widenedintoa breachoffellowshipA. ndthen,forpracticalreasons only,it mustbe narrowedagain bydeceptionand secrecy.So thatthe philosopheremergesl,ikeDescartesin his Discourse,as a separatistin thought,a conformisitn practice.

Walzer/ PHILOSOPHY AND DEMOCRACY

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He is a conformista,t least,untilhe findshimselfin a positionto transformpracticeintosome nearerapproximationto thetruthsofhis thoughtH. e cannotbe a participanitntheroughand tumblepoliticsof

thecity,but he can be a founderor a legislatora, king,a nocturnal councillor,or a judge-or, morerealisticallyh,e can be an advisorto suchfiguresw, hisperingintheearofpower.Shapedbytheverynature ofthephilosophicapl rojecth, ehaslittletasteforbargainingandmutual accommodation.Because the truthhe knowsor claimsto know is singularincharacterh, eislikelytothinkthatpoliticsmustbethesame: a coherentconceptiona,n uncompromisinegxecutionI.nphilosophyas in architecturea,nd so in politics,wroteDescartes:Whathas beenput togetherbitbybit,bydifferenmt astersi,slessperfectthantheworkofa singlehand.Thus,"thoseold placeswhich,beginningas villages,have developedin thecourseof timeintogreattowns,are generally. . . illproportionedincomparisonwiththosean engineercan designatwillin an orderlyfashion."4Descarteshimselfdisclaimsany interestin the politicalversionofsucha project-perhapsbecausehebelievesthatthe onlyplacewhereheislikelyto reignsupremeis hisownmind.Butthere is always the possibilityof a partnershipbetweenphilosophical authorityand political power. Reflectingon that possibility,the philosophermay,likeThomas Hobbes, "recoversome hope thatone timeorother,thiswritingofminemayfallintothehandsofa sovereign, whowill. .. bytheexerciseofentiresovereignt.y.. converthistruthof speculationinto the utilityof practice."5The crucialwordsin these quotationsfromDescartesand Hobbes are "designatwill"and "entire sovereignty.P"hilosophicalfoundingis an authoritarianbusiness.

II.

A quick comparisonmay be helpfulhere. Poets have theirown traditionofwithdrawaalnd engagementb,utradicalwithdrawailsnot commonamongthem.One mightplausiblysetalongsideWittgenstein's sentencesthefollowinglinesofC. P. Cavafy,writtentocomforat young poetwho has managedaftergreateffortofinishonlyonepoem.That, Cavafysays,is a firststep,and no smallaccomplishment:

To setyourfootupon thisstep you mustrightfullbye a citizen of thecityof ideas.6

Wittgensteiwnritesas iftherewere(as thereare) manycommunities, whileCavafyseemsto suggestthatpoetsinhabita single,universaclity.

382 POLITICAL THEORY /IAUGUST 1981

But 1 suspectthatthe Greekpoet meansin factto describea more particularplace: the cityof Hellenic culture.The poet mustprove himselfa citizentheret; hephilosophermustprovethatheisnota citizen anywhereT. he poet needs fellowcitizens,otherpoetsand readersof poetryw, hosharewithhima backgroundofhistoryandsentimentw,ho willnotdemandthateverythinhgewritesbe explained.Withoutpeople likethat,his allusionswillbe lostand hisimageswillecho onlyin his own mind.Butthephilosopherfearsfellowshipf,orthetiesofhistory and sentimenctorrupthisthinkingH. e needstolookattheworldfroma distance,freshlyl,ike a totalstrangerH. is detachmentis speculative, willfula,lwaysincompleteI. do not doubtthata cleversociologistor historianwilldetectinhiswork,as readilyas inanypoem,thesignsofits timeand place. Still,thephilosopher'sambition(inthetraditionthatI am describingi)s extreme.The poet,bycontrasti,s moremodest-as Auden has written:

A poet'shope: to be likesome valleycheese local, butprizedelsewhere.7

The poet may be a visionaryor a seer;he mayseek out exile and trouble;but he cannot,shortof madness,cut himselfofffromthe communityofideas.Andperhapsforthatreason,healso cannotaspire to anythingquitelikesovereigntyoverthecommunityI.fhe hopesto become a "legislatorformankind,"it is ratherby movinghisfellow citizensthan by governingthem.And even the movingis indirect. "Poetrymakesnothinghappen."8Butthatis notquitethesamethingas sayingthatitleaveseverythinags itis. Poetryleavesinthemindsofits readerssome intimationofthepoet'struth.Nothingso coherentas a philosophicalstatementn, othingso explicitas a legal injunction:a poemis nevermorethana partialandunsystematitcruths,urprisinugs byitsexcess,teasingus byitsellipsis,neverarguinga case."I havenever yetbeenabletoperceive,w" roteKeats,"howanythingcanbeknownfor truthby consecutivereasoning."9The knowledgeof the poet is of a differenstort,and itleadstotruthtshatcan,perhaps,becommunicated but neverdirectlyimplemented.

111.

Butthetruthsdiscoveredorworkedoutbypoliticalphilosophercsan be implementedT.heylendthemselverseadilytolegalembodimentA. re

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