Join us at this week's meeting of the Philosophy Club virtually or in-person (Auerbach 320) this Wednesday, April 15 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. as Brian Skelly presents, "Vote Democracy Not Policy—Recovering Our Loss of Grip on Democratic Society."
Walking to the voting booth one day when I was a boy on a certain national election day, my grandfather insisted that when people vote, they should not vote for their own perceived self-interest, but according to their best judgment of what is best for their country. As I was mulling these words while waiting for my grandfather to return from casting his vote, I heard an elderly woman shout out to a friend when asked how she voted: “I voted my pocketbook”. Since then, the shocking contrast between those opinions, delivered to a young mind just old enough to ponder them seriously, has etched into my thoughts indelibly an awareness that political thought embodies and enables two opposite mandates: that of sanctified self-interest, and that of optimizing the public good. The latter, represented by my grandfather’s admonition, is also virtually synonymous with Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s notion of the will of the people, which is expressed not by any single person following the advice of my grandfather, but by everyone following the advice of my grandfather. Note an easy thing to hope for, much less expect; but nonetheless a good point of departure for anyone wanting to get closer to comprehending the truth of the matter: what ought we be voting for when we vote? Ot better: what ought we be trying to accomplish by voting?
According to Rousseau, true democracy arises within an organization to the extent that its membership actively participates in its decision-making, and that this alone legitimizes governance.
I am fairly sure my grandfather, who only had five years of schooling, never read Rousseau. Nonetheless, his philosophical bent caused him to stumble onto other classical philosophical themes, such as Pascal’s Wager and the Socratic concept of the onus of punishment to help and not harm. In this case, he was homing in on a distributive version of Rousseau’s notion of collective democratic action.
As noble as his message sounded to me, over the years I have struggled to comprehend the logistics of it: how does everyone voting according to what they conceive to be best for the whole result in what is actually best for the whole? What if the masses, even in all innocence, are wildly in error on what is best? Or, more probably, what if even the innocent opinions of the masses are so scattered that they collectively cancel one another out? See complete document, attached.
The University of Hartford Philosophy Club has an informal, jovial atmosphere. It is a place where students, professors, and people from the community at large meet as peers. Sometimes presentations are given, followed by discussion. Other times, topics are hashed out by the whole group.
Presenters may be students, professors, or people from the community. Anyone can offer to present a topic. The mode of presentation may be as formal or informal as the presenter chooses.
Come and go as you wish. Bring friends. Suggest topics and activities. Take over the club! It belongs to you! Just show up!
Questions? Contact Brian Skelly at bskelly@hartford.edu; 413.273.2273