Dados is one of the most widely-read social sciences journals in Latin America. Created in 1966, it publishes innovative works, originating from academic research, by Brazilian and foreign authors. Edited by IESP-UERJ, it aims to reconcile scientific rigor and academic excellence with an emphasis on public debate based on the analysis of substantive issues of society and politics.
Dados vol. 40 n. 2 Rio de Janeiro 1997
Abstract
The article contends that for Tocqueville the notion of Providence was an important tool in dealing with problems he encountered both in explaining the emergence of democratic equality as a universal phenomenon and in defining possible lines of action for those who, like him, advocated a liberal solution to the challenges brought by modernity. Specifically, it is argued that the notion of Providence played three roles in the construction of Tocquevilles arguments: a rhetorical role (convincing his peers that a return to the Old Regime was unfeasible), a cognitive role (lending meaning to the long-term process without reinforcing materialist views regarding either chance or the causality immanent to history), and an ethical-political role (determining the role of responsible human action within the contemporary world).
Keywords: Tocqueville, historiography, Providence, history
DOI: 10.1590/S0011-52581997000200002
Tocqueville, a Providência e a História
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