1 Aurelian Craiutu Indiana University, Bloomington
In Praise of a Forgotten Virtue: Moderation in the Twenty-First Century Mississippi State University, November 14, 2012
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Main questions
What kind of virtue is political moderation and how can we study it? Is moderation a sensibility or temperament rather than a strategy, doctrine, or party platform? Is moderation best defined as a “positional” virtue and to what extent is it contingent upon the existence and flourishing of various forms of political radicalism? What does it mean to be a moderate voice in politics? What do moderates seek in politics and how do they apply their moderate views? How many “faces” does moderation have? What are the institutional aspects of moderation?
II. Moderation, an elusive virtue How should we study moderation? The paradoxes of moderation and the skepticism toward moderation
III.Moderation in action The committed observer The trend toward “ideological” purity and the disappearance of moderation?
IV. A Decalogue of moderation One: Do not assume that moderation has only one face. Two: Moderation can be defended for different reasons. Three. Pay special attention to the constitutional elements of moderation. Four: There are different ways in which moderate agendas can and do promote pluralism and the balance of powers, values, and interests while also fighting for the preservation of individual rights. Five: Moderates do not lack political vision. Six: Moderates seeks to keep the ship of the state on an even keel. Seven: Moderation is an eclectic virtue. Eight: Moderation is not only a conservative virtue. Nine: Moderates can sometimes promote radical ideas. Ten: Moderation is not a virtue for everyone or for all seasons. Aurelian Craiutu (Ph. D. Princeton, 1999) is Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. His main research interests are in modern French political thought, mainly the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville, Madame de Staël, and the French Doctrinaires which he has edited and/or translated. His most recent book is A Virtue for Courageous Minds: Moderation in French Political Thought, 1748-1830 (Princeton University Press, 2012) on which this lecture is based.
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1.“Extremism in the pursuit of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue” (Barry Goldwater, former GOP presidential candidate) 2.“Moderation will be stigmatized as the virtue of cowards, and compromise as the prudence of traitors” “This virtue of moderation (which time and situations will clearly distinguish from the counterfeits of pusillanimity and indecision) is the virtue only of superior minds. It requires a deep courage, and full of reflection, to be temperate when the voice of multitudes (the specious mimic of fame and reputation) passes judgment against you.” (Edmund Burke) 3.“In times when passions begin to gain control over the conduct of human affairs, it is less what people of experience and knowledge think that deserves attention than what fills dreamers’ imagination.” Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859, author of Democracy in America) 4.“Moderation is a disposition rather than an agenda…. The moderate creates her policy agenda by looking to her specific circumstances and seeing which things are being driven out of proportion at the current moment. This idea — that you base your agenda on your specific situation — may seem obvious, but immoderate people often know what their solutions are before they define the problems.” (David Brooks, editorialist for New York Times) 5.“By definition, moderates can’t be brave- they don’t have opinions! … Brave moderates? Great moderates in American History? Show me that book! (Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio host) 6.“Our economy continues to struggle, and the president’s health care law is making things worse -raising health costs and making it harder for small businesses to hire workers. The only way to change this is by repealing ObamaCare in its entirety. We voted to fully repeal the president’s health care law as one of our first acts as a new House majority, and our plan remains to repeal the law in its entirety. Anything short of that is unacceptable.” – Speaker John Boehner 7. “Obama must be defeated for failing to advance the progressive agenda.We elected a prince and he turned into a frog.” (Roberto Unger, President Obama’s former professor of law at Harvard) 8.“Wanted: fanatical moderates” Thomas Friedman (editorialist for New York Times) 9. “In politics as in chess, the man who holds the center holds a position of almost unbeatable strength” (Arthur Larson, Assistant Secretary of Labor in the Eisenhower Administration) 10.“What then is the spirit of liberty [moderation]? I cannot define it…The spirit of liberty [moderation] is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty [moderation] is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of those men and women; the spirit of liberty [moderation] is the spirit which weighs their interest alongside its own without bias” Judge Learned Hand (1872-1961)