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Week of October 30 - November 2, 2001 Authority, Reason, and Toleration

For Tuesday, October 30

The Rights and Limits of Authority

Read: in Democratic Idea

#16: On Liberty John Winthrop (1645)

pp. 67-68

"The great questions that have troubled the country are about the authority of the magistrates and the liberty of the people"

Though a man of immense prestige and charisma, Winthrop did not always find governing the people of Massachusetts Bay Colony an easy task. Last week we looked at the purpose of Society, as understood by Thomas Hobbes in the first instance, and John Winthrop in the second. We also looked at what recourse remained when society, in the form of its government, failed to carry out the responsibilities allotted to it (John Locke). Today we'll continue to examine the relationship between the people and the government (magistrates, as Winthrop calls them).

We have come to understand the idea of a "contract" or "covenant," which entails mutual and reciprocal obligations on both sides. If two are on contract with each other, each has a right to expect certain things of the other. Suppose those two are the magistrate, on the one hand, and the citizens, on the other. What has the magistrate a right to expect of the citizen, and what does the citizen have a right to expect of the magistrate? This is the first consideration of Winthrop's speech. The second begins to investigate the concept "liberty," a word dear to the heart of Americans for centuries. What is liberty? Winthrop identifies two kinds: natural and civil. The distinction is similar to that Hobbes used, and you can use Hobbes concept of a state of nature and a state of society to understand Winthrop here. Given that we are "free", what are we free to do?

For Friday, November 2 Toleration and Reason

Read: in Democratic Idea

#10: A Letter Concerning Toleration John Locke

pp. 45 - 49

#12: What is Enlightenment? Immanuel Kant

pp. 57 - 58

Locke's essay considers some of the same issues considered by Winthrop. Locke, however, is more concerned with the limits of the magistrate's power, especially his power to enforce conformity among the people. You'll recognize some similarities between Locke's thinking and Milton's thinking. Locke zeroes in on the relationship between civil authority and spiritual authority, however, and the thinking he expresses can be said to give birth to the idea of a secular state, and in a world of sectarian violence, crusades and jihads, returning to examine Locke's ideas is a good idea. To understand the depth of our indebtedness to him, take 2 minutes and read Amendment I to the United States Constitution, which you'll find on p. 77.

Immanuel Kant looks at the relationship between authority and liberty from a slightly different perspective. What happens to people who rely too much on authority--any authority? How does dependence on authority curtail our "enlightenment"? Some of Milton's ideas can be found here. Look back to his description of the man who hires someone else to be his religious conscience (Section 12).