Intellectual Freedom and Political Co-Operation

INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND POLITICAL CO-OPERATION H. VV. WRIGHT REPRESENTATIVE democracy, as we know it, is an outgrowth of .. modern political liberalism which proposes to find a basis for government in the intellect and will of individual citizens., It assumes that the thinking of every man goes on in a social medium, and that it involves a C011tinuous interchange of information and opinion which can be reli-ed upon to produce a sufficient measure of'agreement among fellow-citizens on questions of national policy and the goals of national effort. Accordipgly, we say that in a democracy the governing force is pu blic opinion which results from the collective thinking of fellow-citizens. In the heated discussions of the political campaign, such opinion crystallizes, and is given recorded expression in the ,vote. Its 'formation and expression proceed at all times, however, facilitated by the newspaper and periodical press, by public speeches and debates, and by the talk which goes on without ceasing among friends and acquaintances, in families and various local groups. It is therefore consistent with the democratic conception of government to underst,and the political freedom for which the United Nations have fought, as a freedom primarily intellectual, the right of the individual citizen to liberty of thought and investigation, of utterance and published statement, of party preference and secret ballot. Liberalism and intellectualism have been singled out by Fascists and Nazis for unremitting attack. No words have been too strong to express their scorn and contempt for these tendencies at work in modern civilization. They have assailed political liberalism as disintegrative and demoralizing, and the' intellectualism at its core as individualistic, and disruptive of organized social effort. So far as this attack has any basis in fact or logic, it would seem to lie in the belief that reason in human beings is by nature self·centred, and governed by considerations of individual rather than social interest. Since such is its character (they may be supposed to argue), for any government to encourage, or even to permit, the free exel"cise of thop.ght upon political questions by individuals, and to be guided in its policies by the opinions which emerge from a free discussion of political ,issues by fellow-citizens, is to preclude the possibility of effective national co-operation. Now it cannot be denied that we do find among leading philosophers of the past, and outstanding psychologists of the present, some who endorse the view that man's reason is essentially self-centred, and that the sale function of intellect in the life of the human individual is prudential e~­ lightenment. Thus they lend some support to the charges brought against political liberalismby the present-day enemies of democracy. The question at issue here, of the nature of human intellect a'nd the part it plays in ·the 240 INTELLECTUAL, FREEDOM AND POLITICAL CO-OPERATION 241 social behaviour of man, is consequently one of decided practical importance today when 'the gravest problems which confront humanity are those of political organization, and the most imperative need of mankind is for national ,,;nd international co-operation. Even among ourselves there are a few who begin to doubt whether the procedures of representative de- ' mocracy with its confused clamour of individual opinion, its amount of unp~oductive partisan strife, and its interminable parliamentary debates, is compatible with such prompt, decisive, and effective national action as the emergencies of the present and the near future will certainly demand. In contemporary psychology, the great name and authority of Freud can be invoked in support of the view that man's intellect is by ,nature egoistic and prudential. This conception of the intellectual function is accepted by many psychologists today because it follows from Freud's famous analysis of the factors which go to make up human personality. This analysis has proved to be very suggestive and illuminating-so much so that, despite its doubtful features, it merits attention from all thoughtful students of human behaviour and social life. According to Freud, a study of what he calls the "anatomy of human personali~y" discloses the existence and operation' of three agencies which he designates the Id, the Ego, and the...