"The very short chapter on pantheism in De la Démocratie en Amérique [On democracy
in America] is probably also one of the most profound, in the sense that it
suggests one of the very mysterious aspects of the soul of democracies. Or maybe,
in this prophetic manner which is the author’s own secret, one aspect of the future
democracies’ soul. As we know it, Tocqueville does not content himself with
a magnificent description of the spirit of democracy as he sees it with his own eyes,
but he is suggesting its developments and avatars, including those, which were not
yet visible in his time. In many cases, almost two centuries later, we do see that he
has predicted, like a Pythia, situations that were rather unlikely in his contemporary
times. We could quote two cases of such predictions, which still amaze us today:
the extraordinary description of the ostracism striking those, who we refer today as
to “politically incorrect” and chapter VI of the Première Partie, entitled: “Ce qui
fait pencher l’esprit des peuples démocratiques vers le panthéisme” [“What makes
the spirit of democratic peoples incline towards pantheism”]. Naturally, the first
symptoms of what he is announcing can already bee felt in the very core of societies
living before his eyes.
"(...
