W. B. Allen | Michigan State University (original) (raw)

Papers by W. B. Allen

Education in a Democratic Republic, 2018

Aristotle observed that “perhaps it is not the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen in... more Aristotle observed that “perhaps it is not the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen in every situation.” (Ethics, 1130b29 ) That “perhaps” proclaims the question whether the good person can be a good citizen in the specific situation of a bad regime. Having raised the question, Aristotle nowhere explicitly answers it, although he provides ample opportunities for the student of politics to pursue an answer. In many ways, there is no more urgent question to confront a human being, as I intend to show below. I will acknowledge immediately, however, that any evidence of the possibility of becoming good without the fostering influence of politics raises enormous difficulties for the appraisal and pursuit of decent political life as well as for virtue itself.

Unpublished Musing, 2023

At summer's opening Tom Klingenstein delivered a short talk with a long tail: "Racism in America ... more At summer's opening Tom Klingenstein delivered a short talk with a long tail: "Racism in America Today." A review of a speech is perhaps less characteristic today than was the case in the age of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. This writer, at least, rarely undertakes such a task, generally eschewing even inaugural addresses. This speech, however, begs for particular attention (linked above and appended below for reference in print). The title of the review suggests why. Klingenstein channels Churchill and Lincoln in this effort to sound an alarm about a moment of civilizational challenge. Klingenstein describes "woke leftism" as a cultural substantive rather than a political ploy or foil. He foretells, accordingly, a coming confrontation that shall require the activation of a counter-force consisting of... well, exactly what? This is what makes a review of value. For the Jeremiad without a call to repentance (or a call to arms) is politically a virgin bloody Mary. These remarks do not address common understanding but do intend to be accessible to every ordinary intelligence. They are neither polemical nor rhetorical; they seek rather to explain the necessary starting point of polemics and rhetoric in our time.

American Political Thought, 2017

Journal of the Early Republic, 1989

George Washington speaks for himself on behalf of liberty and the emerging American republic in t... more George Washington speaks for himself on behalf of liberty and the emerging American republic in this book, the only one-volume compilation in print of his vast writings. This volume includes correspondence, all of his presidential addresses, various public proclamations, his last will and testament, and the most comprehensive recompilation of the "discarded first inaugural" ever printed.

American Political Science Review, 1978

The Catholic Historical Review, 2015

The William and Mary Quarterly, 1984

The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the principle of multipl... more The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the principle of multiple use management of the Nation's forest resources for sustained yields of wood, water, forage, wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry research, cooperation with the States and private forest owners, and management of the national forests and national grasslands, it strives-as directed by Congress-to provide increasingly greater service to a growing Nation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.

Paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, 1993

I conceive no other response to the question of this panel (“What do race and gender contribute t... more I conceive no other response to the question of this panel (“What do race and gender contribute to political science?”) as more appropriate than a frank return to the forms of philosophy, and the practical dilemmas they create, which originated the peculiar form of this discourse so common in the late twentieth century. In the paper that follows, therefore, I will discuss, first, an instructive eighteenth century discussion of cultural relativism and, second, the moral and political quandary that emerged in the United States the first time that particular version of science threatened significantly to inform the common understanding.

American Political Thought, 2015

Journal of the Early Republic, 1986

Perspectives on Political Science, 2020

The American Journal of Jurisprudence, 1983

Social Philosophy and Policy, Mar 1, 1991

Principled discussions of civil rights became inherently less likely as a direct result of the ob... more Principled discussions of civil rights became inherently less likely as a direct result of the observation by Earl Warren, in Brown v. Board of Education, that, respecting freedmen, “Education of Negroes was almost non-existent, and practically all of the race were illiterate,” and in proportion as that observation increasingly became the foundation of common opinion on the subject. Warren&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s observation was not true in any meaningful or non-trivial sense. Nevertheless, it served to perpetuate the myth of a backward people needing help to catch up instead of the truth of a people being held back. That is the perspective – the disadvantaged group perspective – that ultimately infected all discussion of civil rights, even after the designation of so-called “disadvantaged groups” had been extended beyond American blacks.To define civil rights, we may well begin with what all mankind would likely recognize. Thus the dictionary definition of “civil rights” stands: “the rights that belong to all individuals in a nation or community touching property, marriage, and the like.” In that definition the term “rights” may be further expanded to mean “legitimate claims,” following the definition of right as law – as “a claim or title or interest in anything whatever that is enforceable by law.” This definition applies with minimal distinction of regimes intruding and, therefore, without the host of recent complications in the United States that create the impression that civil rights have something to do with pluralism. Previously, the generic definition was thought to exhaust the meaning of the term in the United States.

Encyclopédie Méthodique (1782-1832), ninth volume, 1791 Dictionnaire de police et municipalité, under the heading "Jurisprudence"

Jacques Peuchet (1758-1830). French political philosopher highly influential in shaping public ad... more Jacques Peuchet (1758-1830). French political philosopher highly influential in shaping public administration. He coined the term “bureaucratic” around 1798, approximately a decade after the world “bureaucracy” was first introduced.
Born in Paris, Peuchet matriculated at the College of Louis-Le-Grand. He followed his classical studies with study in law. After graduating he assumed legal and administrative posts, prior to and continuing throughout the French Revolution (1789-1799), with intervals of self-imposed exile during periods he felt endangered. Political economy was the chief area of his contribution; he successfully introduced systematic statistics to French administrative procedure.
His influence is reflected in Karl Marx’s translation of Peuchet’s treatise on suicide from Mémoires tirés des archives de la police de Paris (1838), which Marx viewed as having the “great advantage of having placed in evidence the contradictions and the monstrosity of modern life, not only in the conditions of particular classes but in the entire sphere and form of the actual social relations.” (Marx, Marx on Suicide, 1818-1883.)
Peuchet’s greatest contribution is authorship of entries in the Encyclopédie Méthodique (1782-1832), most significantly those in the ninth volume, the 1791 Dictionnaire de police et municipalité, under the heading Jurisprudence. The “Police” entry contributes two important concepts. The first is clarification of the meaning of “public opinion,” which had become so vital a part of the thinking of “les idéologues” of the French Revolution era and had also influenced the thinking of politician and philosopher James Madison in the United States. The second contribution applies to the meaning of the term “police” itself. Peuchet presents the single, most comprehensive account existing in the literature of political science on the topic, examining the word from its broadest meaning as constitutional and moral order all the way to the maintenance of public order, health, and safety.
Peuchet’s influence extended from political economy and public administration to fictional literature. His worked as a publicist and also edited the Gazette de France and the Mercure. His service as archivist for the Police Prefecture led to the publication of memoirs that provided the inspiration for Alexandre Dumas’s novel, The Count of Monte Cristo. In addition Peuchet pseudonymously authored the fictional work Mémoires de Mademoiselle Bertin sur la reine Marie-Antoinette, avec des notes et des éclaircissements (1824). That work served to complete Peuchet’s transition from a representative in the General Assembly during the 1789 revolution to a royalist quietly sympathetic to the executed queen.

Conference Presentations by W. B. Allen

Statistics, Science and Public Policy: IX Government, Science and Politics, 2004

If social science is defined by what "social scientists" do, it appears amorphous and unsystemati... more If social science is defined by what "social scientists" do, it appears
amorphous and unsystematic. The systems and approaches of social science are debated, and their methods range from the merely quantitative to the merely narrative. The question becomes: What is the relation between the scientific revolution. legislation and social science? Alexander
Hamilton demonstrated that it is elements of bias rather than limitations in "the sciences of morals and politics" that confound men. Montesquieu justified the application of strict measurement in the formulation of laws or policies. Therefore, social science is precisely the application of strict calculations to variable subjects.
Social scientists also disagree as to what constitutes the primary object of social science study: whether the organizing principle or end of society; the changing arrays of social institutions, the component parts of society, or some combination of these; whether the interactions of persons or
the structure of opinions. A particular phenomenon allows us to escape this contention of errors. No public policy. law or regulation, is enacted or promulgated today without being buttressed by generous portions of social science research and statistics. Government makes use of social
science, and we may take the services that social sciences perform in politics and pleadings as our model.
What is meant by the scientific revolution? Is it Enlightenment

Keynote Address, Acton University, The Acton Institute, June 16, 2016, 2016

This talk explores the fundamental meaning of the freedom of conscience and demonstrates that it ... more This talk explores the fundamental meaning of the freedom of conscience and demonstrates that it is actually a foundation both of Christianity and political liberty. It operationalizes without mentioning the “passions, opinions, and interests” that James Madison invoked in Federalist Paper number ten as the motive forces operating in human life, with the understanding that opinion is the mediating term which is required to actuate either passions or interests. That argument means that opinion bears forcefully on the sensory world through reason, while recognizing that it operates as well from the supersensory or transcendent realm. That reality means that humans have the capacity to produce motion or movement in the sensory world without first being moved in a sensory manner. To that limited extent the human is akin to Aristotle’s unmoved mover – the human acts a little bit like God in the world. But the most important question is whether that action is constrained or arbitrary. If it is strictly guided by reason, then it is not transcendent. Historically, accordingly, humans have resorted to a separate faculty, called conscience (a moral cause), to account for their ability to move independently of material cause. We inquire, therefore, whether conscience is a sure guide. We do this particularly in light of the pride of place conscience holds in governing human conduct, since the freedom of conscience is the over-riding foundation of political liberty. For if conscience proved to be a mere chimera, then it would follow that humans can and may act without accountability in the sensory world. To occupy this authoritative ground conscience would have to govern man above all other potential causes of human conduct. That this is the claim for conscience is underscored by the role it plays in defining political freedom. For the enforcement of freedom of conscience means explicitly interfering with the operation of all other sources of rule (that is, human sources of rule) in determining human conduct. That position does not inhere in individualism, equality, or consent, since each of those can yield a “free-for-all” with respect to competing human claims of authority. To express it differently, there exists no moral or ethical foundation for yielding to collective authority, apart from the subordination of collective authority – and hence any human authority – to the transcendent authority that informs conscience. While political freedom, for example, may have good consequences (such as in producing a more equitable distribution of resources), it can do so only if it stands upon the foundation of freedom of conscience. That is, political freedom requires a freedom of conscience that is not itself the product of political freedom; It is rather a construct of divine revelation.

Lecture delivered at St. Mary’s College, California, 1978

The Nichomachean Ethics invented the non-Platonic distinction between ethical virtue and intellec... more The Nichomachean Ethics invented the non-Platonic distinction between ethical virtue and intellectual virtue. Many have believed this Aristotelian invention to be the pupil’s way of liberating himself from the influence of the teacher, Because complete ethical virtue is found only in the prudent human being, they have believed the prudent one to be the analogy of the philosopher-king. But they have never explained satisfactorily why Aristotle considered prudence an intellectual virtue. The wise man is the same for all, while the prudent one is different. And the specific examples Aristotle employs suggest much individual variability—“on account of which some [persons] not knowledgeable are more prudent than others knowledgeable.” ll4lbl6. That is, empirics are sometimes more useful than theorists. But that seems to suggest the priority of particular experiences in arriving at sound moral and political judgments –as opposed to general standards of natural right. Aristotle contrasts empirical knowledge with general or theoretical knowledge. "So that it is necessary to have both, rather than that one. For there must be some architectonic principle."
Prudence or practical wisdom—the specific form of deliberative excellence [1141b10]--can be radically individual, only if the subject matters of deliberation are radically individual, as they are clearly subordinate. They are subordinate to the subject of contemplation.

Education in a Democratic Republic, 2018

Unpublished Musing, 2023

American Political Thought, 2017

Journal of the Early Republic, 1989

American Political Science Review, 1978

The Catholic Historical Review, 2015

The William and Mary Quarterly, 1984

Paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, 1993

American Political Thought, 2015

Journal of the Early Republic, 1986

Perspectives on Political Science, 2020

The American Journal of Jurisprudence, 1983

Social Philosophy and Policy, Mar 1, 1991

Encyclopédie Méthodique (1782-1832), ninth volume, 1791 Dictionnaire de police et municipalité, under the heading "Jurisprudence"

Statistics, Science and Public Policy: IX Government, Science and Politics, 2004

Keynote Address, Acton University, The Acton Institute, June 16, 2016, 2016

Lecture delivered at St. Mary’s College, California, 1978

A lecture delivered March 16, 1982 at Wabash College for the "Owen Duston Visiting Scholar" program., 1982

Students of politics are often uncertain what reward they will receive from their effort. I do no... more Students of politics are often uncertain what reward they will receive from their effort. I do not mean to say that they differ from biologists, or musicologists, or engineers, or any of the other arts which men pursue. They all are in the same boat when it comes to praying that following their natural bent or the lure of opportunity will be not only good for them but good, simply. Still, students of politics have a special problem and are therefore special. For they alone pursue an inquiry the subject of which and the necessity to come to terms with which are manifest not only to them but to everyone. Is there any other liberal study regarding which
people in general are so largely unwilling to concede the possibility of an expertise beyond their comprehension? have seen already that from the moment we perceive the need of education—that is, from the moment we are liberated from mere prejudice—we discover also the necessity of political philosophy. While not the historically first training we receive, it is the first education we receive. It follows, then, that where one has had no education in political philosophy, not only has he not had a complete education, his education has not yet begun.

Address: Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Western Region Summer School on “Education”, 1979

If circumstances lead me, I will find Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeed within the ce... more If circumstances lead me, I will find Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeed within the center. Hamlet, II, ii, 155
Plato's Republic discloses through its organization the objective of its argument - namely to clarify "the human business." The defect of education in Plato’s Republic is not that it presents politics and philosophy as extreme opposites. It is inevitable that matters will appear in this way when one examines only the end of philosophy and the origins of politics. Just as surely will politics and philosophy or education seem hardly distinguished at all when one consults the origins of philosophy and the ends of politics. The defect of Plato’s Republic is rather that it segregates the political things and the human things. It is the defect which claims that there is no guidance for the human things in politics.

Draft Essay, 2010

This post was prepared for the "Wall Street Journal" in the aftermath of the McChrystal controver... more This post was prepared for the "Wall Street Journal" in the aftermath of the McChrystal controversy. That controversy is described in Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal) as follows: "Best known for his command of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) from 2003 to 2008 during which his organization was credited with the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. His final assignment was as Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander, United States Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A).[3] He previously served as Director, Joint Staff from August 2008 to June 2009. . . McChrystal was reportedly known[5] for saying what other military leaders were thinking but were afraid to say; this was one of the reasons cited for his appointment to lead all forces in Afghanistan.[6] He held the post from June 15, 2009, to June 23, 2010.[7]. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates described McChrystal as "perhaps the finest warrior and leader of men in combat I ever met."[8] However, following unflattering remarks about Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials[9] attributed to McChrystal and his aides in a Rolling Stone article,[10] McChrystal was recalled to Washington, D.C., where President Barack Obama accepted his resignation as commander in Afghanistan.[11][12][13] "

Five hundred and twenty-eight years ago Christopher Columbus set out in search of a new world, no... more Five hundred and twenty-eight years ago Christopher Columbus set out in search of a new world, not knowing whether he would find people. In the event he discovered a peopled America. He knew neither where he was (he thought it was the Indies) nor who the people were. So he simply denominated them the people of the Indies.
Fifty years ago I set out in search of a people, the American people, in a world that I knew. In the event I discovered how very difficult it was to specify who the people were, taken altogether.
Columbus’s nautical journey and my intellectual journey converged in the dramatic evidence provided by the 1893 Columbian Exposition – the great Chicago World’s Fair – an illustration from which opens this presentation. This illustration reflects not the glorious opening but the bursting of the illusion of triumph symbolized by the fiery destruction that followed the Exposition’s closing. The purpose of the Exposition had been to herald the entry of the United States onto the commanding heights of world civilization. But the very staging of the World’s Fair inadvertently highlighted far more powerfully the fault lines of society in the United States and perhaps in world civilization altogether.
To comprehend the dimensions of cognitive dissonance present at the Exposition, we reflect on the current manifestation of a still more entrenched cognitive dissonance manifested presently in the form of the New York Times “1619 Project.” The explicit purpose of that project is to provide a compelling re-telling of the American story that exposes its development as a civilization in the form of a story of the overcoming of systematic oppression at the hands of dominant European culture rooted in what is identified as capitalist economics. The fact that “capitalism” per se is a development antecedent to the age of exploration and conquest does not impede the integrating urge of the “1619 Project” to characterize the American experience as a story of the redeeming power of marginalized groups, and in particular the positive good that enslaved Africans contributed.
Conversely to the more 1619 project, critical voices of the era argued for the incorporation of emancipated slaves in the European story. In other words, they claimed to recognize what America stood for and promised by abolishing slavery and claimed a right to bond with it. They argued, in effect, that the triumphalism of the Columbian Exposition could only be completed by including the notable post-slavery accomplishments of American blacks. In fact, however, all such notice was strictly excluded as in 1896 the nation moved ineluctably toward “separate but equal.” The Columbian Ex-position, in other words, exposed a battle to define the American character as a whole.

Constitution Day Address, UT San Marco, 2021

Who doubts what the Constitution is? Just about everyone! However, there are only two major view... more Who doubts what the Constitution is? Just about everyone! However, there are only two major viewpoints in contention. The one regards the Constitution as a fixed but revisable text. The other regards it as a medium through which contemporary preferences are projected. There exists, however, a third and neglected but far more persuasive viewpoint – namely, that the Constitution is a story (or, rather, a history) of previous political settlements.
I make this third approach clear by means of a demonstration of the manner in which any Constitution is only a form of critical reflection on the transactions (and hence resolutions) in social and political contradictions.

The relation between the Declaration and the Constitution has a different affect today than it di... more The relation between the Declaration and the Constitution has a different affect today than it did in 1860, when enemies to the more perfect union could find no pillar bearing more weight – and thus to be dislodged – than what they called the “self-evident lie” that “all men are created equal.” Those critics insisted that men indeed are not by nature made equal, nor should be. Today’s enemies of the more perfect union believe that “all men” in 1776 only meant all white males and, moreover, that not even
they were by nature made equal though they should be. These critics insist, however, that what nature and history refused to humankind law can create (and they would indeed have all men equalized, the Constitution notwithstanding).
In 1860 nothing and no one so stoutly resisted the enemies of the Declaration than the Defender of the Constitution. Today nothing and no one so stoutly resist the enemies of the Constitution than the Defender of the Declaration. Abraham Lincoln established at Gettysburg that the nation “conceived in liberty” and confirmed “in the proposition that all men are created equal” must conduct its affairs through limited, constitutional union.
Today we require to learn that limited, constitutional union can only be justified on the basis of the Declaration of Independence. What we mean, then, when we say that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are best friends, is that they are necessary and reciprocal supports for each other.
Two proofs are necessary to complete this argument: first, that the Declaration requires limited, constitutional union and, second, that the Constitution requires the principle of equality founded in laws of nature and creation.