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POPULAR JUDGMENTS

DEMANDS OF DEMOCRACY.

The doctrine that by taking a vote we can discover the truth in philosophy, science or history, is plainly fantastic, it is equally ridiculous in ethics and aesthetics, and ot make it plausible we have to cheat, writes Mr Michael Roberts in his book, “The Recovery of the West,” in attacking the idea that the majority must be right. We say that the popular judgment of what is good and right is reliable provided that the public is properly educated. This begs the essential question: what is proper education. If we apply the test of popularity strictly and without evasion, we are likely to find that American films are “better” than Shakespeare, that motor cars are better than children, that irresponsibility is better than public spirit ... To question what Francis Bacon called “frail and uncertain authority” is always necessary, but to belittle every kind of authority, and to maintain that the expert is always wrong, is to attack the whole foundation of civilised democracy. A democracy cannot flourish unless people are willing and able to recognise each kind of true authority; and, conversely, true authority can flourish only in a State in which the citizens are free from coercion. Properly understood, the notion of civil liberty is inseparable from the recognition of specific authorities. The business of the democratic citizen is not merely to vote for representatives who pledge themselves to support his interests, but to make use of men whose knowledge, character and judg-, ment are better than his own. We need, I says the author in conclusion, to restore the balance and proportion of our! thought, to recognise that authority andi tradition are no less valuable than experiment and scepticism, and to remember that the materialistic approach is only one of the approaches to the worlds of matter, life and value, and is not the one that • reveals significance and purpose. We need a firm conviction of a common purpose, a purpose that will include the material aims of the social reformer, but will not be limited by national or personal selfishness. Democracy cannot be maintained except through the self-discipline, the hard determination and concentration of energy that come from the recognition of religious truth.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAITA19411215.2.54

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 December 1941, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
372

POPULAR JUDGMENTS Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 December 1941, Page 6

POPULAR JUDGMENTS Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 December 1941, Page 6

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