Spring 2010 - Interpretation

3 2 8
I n t e r p r e t a t i o n
Morrisey observed that the third part of political science,
“political thought,” exercises “practical reason,” the “political deliberations”
of statesmen, who, in turn, provide non-theoretic responses to the question,
what is the good for this people here and now? Whether it is true that political
science distinguishes itself into political philosophy (inquiry into the nature
of human association), political theory (inquiry into particular regimes as
regimes), and political thought (prudential reason), it remains pertinent that
we observe statesmen engaged in a reasoning that implicates general theories.
Thus, Morrisey’s first work is a philosophical case study. The
five presidents may be viewed separately, and therefore, on the basis of oneon-one
comparisons. They may also be viewed as a series that discloses variant
responses to varying urgencies. The first approach introduces the familiar
questions: “Who was clearer? more effective? greater?” The second approach
yields a more interesting result. For Jefferson Davis’s understanding does
not merely contrast with the understanding of Lincoln, whom he opposed
politically, but also stands in a certain relation to the founders and contrasts
with Lincoln’s relation to the founders. Indeed, the question has been raised
tacitly, whether Davis were the better heir of the founders than Lincoln. This
is the particular dimension of the first work that threads through the discussion
of The Dilemma of Progressivism. That is, the “dilemma” is that the
progressives who would found anew are forced to seek recognition as heirs
of the founding.
The founders, in the end, stand in judgment between Lincoln
and Davis, and therefore in judgment over the contemporary dispute,
whether Lincoln were a savior or destroyer of self-government. That judgment
would be as “clear as the sun in its meridian brightness,” as George
Washington might say. However, the picture is more complicated when we
also take into account Adams (who approved the Alien and Sedition Acts of
1798) and Jefferson (whose administration welcomed the first national blows
against slavery but also acquired the Louisiana Territory and boosted slavery).
Morrisey’s Washington, by contrast, defends the propositions
that men become self-governing by means of governing themselves and
that the purpose of legislation is to foster such reliance. “Prudential reasoning
is the leading form of governing reason…prudential reasoning moderates
human passions and appetites, making them governable.” Morrisey does not
say so, but this comes so close to Aristotle’s “man is by nature a political animal,”
that it is fair to conclude that he reads the theme of self-government as
making judgment by reason of nature essential to America. The appropriate