In this article, originally appearing in The Tocqueville Review, 1985-1986, 7, 117-129, Furet proposes that in trying to account for the origins of Tocqueville's thought, it is more efficient to ...uncover the intellectual problems which he put to himself on an existential basis, rather than trying to reconstruct the line of idea inheritance from earlier writers. Furet here argues that this is because Tocqueville was merely twenty when the problems of American democracy had begun to take shape in his mind. Moreover, Tocqueville was of a generation upon whom the French Revolution imparted a direct impact. These factors, combined with a personality that favored originality & direct inquiry, suggest that looking at the biographical evidence of Tocqueville's exploration of American politics provides for a richer understanding of the early development of his thought. It is this trajectory that Furet here follows in depth. 25 References. C. Brunski
Democracy and Utopia Furet, François; Costopoulos, Philip J
Journal of democracy,
1998, 1998-01-00, 19980101, Letnik:
9, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The course of democratic utopias from their first appearance during the French Revolution to the present day is discussed as a way of clarifying their nature and profundity.
The French Revolution Revisited Furet, François
Government and opposition (London),
July 1989, Letnik:
24, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
I SHOULD LIKE TO START WITH AN EXTREMELY SIMPLE STATEment about the French Revolution. This is that there are many historical arguments among historians on many subjects, but that none of these ...arguments is so intense and so heated as the one which takes place in every generation about the French Revolution. It is as though the historical interpretation of this particular subject and the arguments of specialists directly reflect the political struggles and the gamble for power. It is true that we are all aware today that there are no unbiased historical interpretations: the selection of facts which provide the raw material for the historian's work is already the result of a choice, even although that choice is not an explicit one. To some extent, history is always the result of a relationship between the present and the past and more specifically between the characteristics of an individual and the vast realm of his possible roots in the past. But, nevertheless, even within this relative framework, not all the themes of history are equally relevant to the present interests of the historian and to the passions of his public.
