Whiteheadian Witticisms: The Task of Democracy
By Tripp Fuller • Jun 10th, 2008 • Category: quotesAlfred North Whitehead said there are two tasks for a Democracy and I figured since we have two presidential candidates (Sorry Bob) this might give us a little something to think about.
A friend says to Whitehead, “It begins to look as though the one thing democracy has that is worth saving is the freedom of the individual.” Whitehead responds by saying;
I would say the freedom of the individual is one. But your knowledge of history will remind you that there has always been misery at the bottom of society: in the ancient world, slavery; in the medieval world, serfdom; since the development of machine technique, industrial proletariats. Our own age is the first time when, if this machine production is sensibly organized, there need be no material want. Russia has relieved the suffering of the masses at the price of individual’s liberty; the Fascists have destroyed personal liberties without really much alleviating the condition of the masses; the task of democracy is to relieve mass misery and yet preserve the freedom of the individual.
Tripp Fuller is married to an awesome lady Alecia and has a handsome little baby boy named Elgin Thomas (aka E.T.) and Pebbles, the Schnoodle. He and Alecia are both graduates of Campbell University (where they met), the Divinity School of Wake Forest University and ordained ministers. He is working on his PhD in Philosophy of Religion and Theology at Claremont Graduate University. A few other things he digs are books, cigars, pipes, Shaq, guitar, pirates, fishing, the Counting Crows, and good conversations about Religion and Politics. The podcast is the most time consuming hobby he has ever had besides reading and blogging through Wolfhart Pannenberg's 3 volume systematic theology. Follow Tripp on Twitter | Tripp on Facebook
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I hope you will continue to publish Whitehead quotes. I learned a little about him in my theology class regarding his Process Philosophy. I haven’t had the opportunity to really check him out…so, thanks!