Abstract

Drawing primarily upon the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, this dissertation is a contribution to the debate concerning the virtues and responsibilities of citizens of modern democratic states. First, I argue that modern democratic citizens share a basic civic duty to try to practice political self-reliance. Political self-reliance is a posture of mental independence assumed toward the political concerns of one's country and communities and toward the content of one's political and social duties . It also is a capacity for original and self-initiated political action and speech. ;Then, I describe a variety of common fears involving politics which tend to inhibit the practice of political self-reliance by citizens. These include fears of individual freedom and responsibility, fears of conspicuousness and vulnerability, fears of political oppression and terror, and a variety of easily politicized fears . As I understand it, the challenge of modern democratic citizenship is, primarily, the problem of practicing political self-reliance in defiance of these fears. ;Finally, I develop a humanistic conception of civic courage, which emphasizes a capacity for intellectual courage, and contrast this conception with several outmoded ancient Greek, ancient Roman, and Renaissance republican conceptions, which emphasize physical or moral courage. Although I subscribe to an unheroic view of political life, I conclude that civic courage, understood humanistically, can be as important a part of civic virtue for modern democratic citizens as toleration, civility, and reasonableness, and perhaps more so than public spiritedness, patriotism, and strong communal identity. The importance of civic courage is due to its usefulness to citizens for practicing political self-reliance.