The Meaning of "Democracy" and Fate vs. Free Will

We wrapped up our conversation about revolution last week and are not talking about democracy.  Today in social studies we looked at several famous quotes (below) about democracy.  Each student chose one, and wrote about what he or she thinks the quote means.  Tonight's homework is to draw a sketch that shows the quote in action.  This would be a lovely project to check out if you're so inclined.  If you're looking for something exciting to discuss at dinner, it might be an interesting thing to talk about, as would the philosophical question that came up...


One of the quotes we looked at was credited to Aristotle.  We quickly discussed what a philosopher is, and that lead to an interesting conversation about free will vs. determinism, or fate.  While this was a bit tangential, it was an interesting conversation, and there are clearly some philosophers in the room.  Students, if you'd like to read more about free will vs. fate, page 86 of this book might be of interest (Click "contents" for links to the pages in the book.  You might have to play with the zoom to get it to look right.  Click and drag to scroll.):






Here are the quotes we looked at:


“As a citizen, you have a choice between two different paths.

 One path is easy. When you turn on the TV or open the newspaper and hear about all the trouble in the world you could walk away from the stories about Iraq or poverty or violence or joblessness or hopelessness.

 Just turn it off and tune out. That would be the easiest thing in the world to do. There will be pundits and politicians who will tell you that it’s someone else’s fault and someone else’s problem to fix. 

I am not one of them.

 There is a second path. This one is more difficult. It asks more of you. It asks you to not just pursue your own individual dreams, but to help perfect our collective dream as a nation. It asks you to realize there is more to life than being rich, thin, young, famous, safe, and entertained. It asks you to recognize that there are people out there who need you.”
Barack Obama

“Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.” 

E.B. White

“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.”
Thomas Jefferson

“The true democrat is he who with purely nonviolent means defends his liberty and, therefore, his country's and ultimately that of the whole of mankind.”
Mahatma Gandhi

“Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Abraham Lincoln

“The strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively debate, but they endure when people of every background and belief find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a greater purpose.”
Barack Obama

“Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.”
Aristotle

“That is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody's son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted -- or at least, most of the time.”
Barack Obama


Thanks for reading.