Book Reviews : Essai sur la politique de Hume. By GEORGES VLACHOS. (Athens: Institut Français; Paris: Domat-Montchrestien. 1955. Pp. 250.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591295600900144
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Date: 01 March 1956
• Author: R.K. Gooch
• Subject Matter: Articles

213
What stands out clearly from the book as a whole is that, with all
the pretensions to &dquo;scientific&dquo; as opposed to &dquo;utopian&dquo; socialism, Marxists
(if not Marx himself) have been romantically attached to the mystique
of communism. But, assuming the need for rationality in the maintenance
of democracy, the West may be accused of the same failure in many of its
adherents. Unfortunately, not only the carefully drawn critique of Marx-
ism will be new to many democratic readers. The defense of democracy
traced in terms of its basic tenets and beliefs will reveal to a number of
unsuspecting students that their assumptions and views are in conflict with
the democratic tradition.
How can the messianic quasi-religion of world communism be countered
by democracy? What is the unifying principle which not only identifies
what is common to the West but can provide a basic elan? &dquo;Exactly what
kind of Weltanschauung the West stands for is not easy to say; and no
wonder, since within it there is something to everyone’s taste. It is a rich
smorgasbord of philosophies, religions, political, economic, and social sys-
tems.&dquo;
Pragmatically, democracy boils down to a procedure for exchanging
power peacefully, and this form of government by discussion and dissent
is crucial to a free polity. But is it exciting and meaningful to those newly
awakening regions of the world where nations, masses, and decaying
regimes are in turmoil? Without the kind of analysis provided by this book
there can be no answer to that question. But if Mayo’s analysis is necessary
to the answer it is far from sufficient. Unfortunately, it is communism
rather than democracy which continues to exploit the ideological offensive.
HERBERT GARFINKEL.
Dartmouth College.
Essai sur la politique de Hume. By GEORGES VLACHOS. (Athens: Institut
Français; Paris: Domat-Montchrestien. 1955. Pp. 250.)
No student of the history of political thought would be likely to disagree
with the view that a...