The Problem with Democracy: Can Freedom and Equality Cooexist?

A live election special recording of The Partially Examined Life philosophy podcast on de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America.” Democracy is a noble political enterprise, thought Alexis de Tocqueville, but also dangerous, reinforcing an egalitarian mentality that at its extreme will relinquish liberty and freedom of thought in favor of a tyranny of the majority. De Tocqueville was a Frenchman writing about the America of the 19th century, but he might as well have been writing about the U.S.A. in the 21st. His Democracy in America is both a celebration of our institutions and a diagnosis of their self-destructive tendencies. The cure? He has something to say about that as well. With more than 14 million downloads, The Partially Examined Life is one of the most popular educational podcasts in the world. In each episode, four panelists have a roundtable discussion about a philosophical text with some balance between insight and flippancy.