Front cover image for Democratic faith

Democratic faith

The American political reformer Herbert Croly wrote, "For better or worse, democracy cannot be disentangled from an aspiration toward human perfectibility." Democratic Faith is at once a trenchant analysis and a powerful critique of this underlying assumption that informs democratic theory. Patrick Deneen argues that among democracy's most ardent supporters there is an oft-expressed belief in the need to "transform" human beings in order to reconcile the sometimes disappointing reality of human self-interest with the democratic ideal of selfless commitment
eBook, English, ©2005
Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., ©2005
History
1 online resource (xvii, 365 pages) : illustrations
9781400826896, 1400826896
362557241
Faith in man
Democratic transformation
Democracy as trial : toward a critique of democratic faith
Protagoras unbound : the democratic mythology of Protagoras's "great speech"
Civil religion and the democratic faith of Rousseau
American faith : the translation of religious faith to democratic faith
"A pattern laid up in heaven" : Plato's democratic ideal
The only permanent state : Tocqueville on religion and democracy
Hope in America : the chastened faith of Reinhold Niebuhr and Christopher Lasch
Conclusion : a model of democratic charity