Written- August 9, 2020
Introduction
Blackstone was an English Lawyer and Judge. He was not considered to be a political philosopher. His major thought was focused on the laws of England. He influenced English legal and civic education. He focuses on the lawyer and the “gentleman” (Strauss and Cropsey 1987, 622). In his writings, specifically Commentaries,Blackstone highlights the idea of the natural law and conventional law. “. . . Blackstone’s lectures were an established Oxford institution with a national, indeed international, reputation” (Prest 2008).”
For Blackstone, liberty would remain for the citizen even with a sovereign power. “Rights are the bases of Blackstone’s jurisprudence, and there are, strictly speaking, no rights of the public but only rights of individuals” (624). Blackstone was an advocate of law and order; he did not fear that people would forget their natural rights even when tyranny threatens society (627).
Tocqueville brings to light different democratic expedients such as, judges, associations, and free institutions. The association would protect the rights of the minority against the power of the majority (775). Associations provide the opportunity for “individuals to learn the art of adapting them to a common purpose” (775). Both Blackstone and Tocqueville discuss the jury system. For Blackstone, the judiciary would enforce civil liberty and for Tocqueville the jury system will help citizens consider the needs of others outside of themselves. “The jury system is another of the democratic expedients Tocqueville recommends to preserve freedom and counter the individualistic tendencies of democracy” (774).
Alexander Hamilton writes in The Federalist Papers concerning the judiciary source: “It is far more rational to suppose that the courts were designed to be an intermediate body between the people and the legislature in order, among other things, to keep the latter within the limits assigned to their authority’ (No. 78).
Equality is essential in a democracy. It is the voice behind the democratic regime. Tocqueville reminds his readers that the love of equality is at the core of democracy even more than liberty (768). Despotism is the result of protecting equality (769). The American Founders believed in natural rights that are given by God they stood for equality. We see this from the Declaration to the abolishment of slavery. The Founders declare: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (1776).
Concerning religion, Blackstone believed in the idea of an established church and Tocqueville adhered to more of the Founder’s view of separation of Church and State. Tocqueville writes in 1831 Impressions of America: Three Letters:
“Admirable, isn’t it, the feebleness of our nature? One religion sways people’s wills, dominates the imagination, and begets real, profound beliefs. But it divides the human race into the blessed and the damned, creating divisions on earth that ought to exist only in the next life; it fosters intolerance and fanaticism. The other religion preaches tolerance, cleaving to reason, which it makes its symbol, and what is it?—an inert fellowship, feckless and almost lifeless” (1831).
Blackstone and Tocqueville are champions for the natural freedom of men under law and order in a centralized government; for Tocqueville, a “soft despotism” through the doctrine of self interest (770); for Blackstone, an “artificial public or common good that must be constructed for the sake of the peaceful enjoyment of individual rights” (624). The Bible teachers in Galations 5:13 that we are called to freedom. In the spiritual sense, we are called to freedom to be slaves of righteousness; this is the paradox in the Christian faith, but it is found true without contradictions. “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (NASB). We use our freedom for the betterment of society and we adhere to just government to maintain a civil state.
References
Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, John Jay. 2003. The Federalist Papers. Edited by Clinton
Rossiter, Introduction by Charles R. Kesler. New York: Penguin.
Strauss and Cropsey. 1987. History of Political Philosophy. Chicago: The University of Chicago.
Tocqueville, Alexes de. 2010. Impressions of America: Three Letters. New England Review.
Faith, Family, Dance, and Lemonade 