Abstract

This dissertation questions realist assumptions concerning the nature of politics, in particular, the ideas that we cannot escape from the necessity to make compromises if we act in the political realm, which suggests that politics is contentious; and that we do not exercise complete control over the consequences of our actions, which means that politics is contingent. I do not deny the viability of either assumption entirely, but ask whether emphasizing these assumptions does not occlude other factors equally important to understanding politics. An examination of the relationship between innocence and politics introduces this possibility and leads us to inquire more carefully into the nature and boundaries of politics. ;Innocence is frequently discussed as that which we have lost, sacrificed, or abandoned, i.e., that which is excluded social and political existence. I discuss St. Augustine and Soren Kierkegaard in order to understand the significance a loss of innocence might have to the human condition. Then I consider the treatment of innocence in Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Albert Camus, in order to examine the relevance this loss might have for politics. From an analysis of these theorists I find that politics can violate those parts of us that, like Augustine's God, we associate with innocence. When such a violation occurs, politics has exceeded its boundaries; as victims of its operations, we might protest, establishing that such violations are not acceptable as part of the ordinary operations of politics. ;A tension exists between innocence and politics. If innocence is held to be a standard for a perfect political community, or if innocence is dismissed as irrelevant to the operations of politics, this tension is effaced. The nature of politics is defined by the argument between those who claim to be innocent victims and refuse to be part of a polity that operates against them, and those who recognize the difficulty of acting in a world where compromise and contingency are often impossible to avoid