Tocqueville conceives early his concept of political participation, within a particular philosophical context: the theory of civilization elaborated by his teacher, Guizot. In that context, Tocqueville outlines his theory of aristocratic civilization, in connection with the Germanic sense of liberty. His concept of democratic civilization is actually an analysis of the several layer which compose the European idea of democratic liberty. The American sense of municipal liberty keeps some traces of the aristocratic political civilization. It is a rare result of (...) history, which clashes with modern rationalism and its universalistic tendency. (shrink)

Professor Leonardo Polo's theory about man as a dweller constitutes the framework for a dialogue with Marx. According to the latter, man realizes himself as species through work, creating his own conditions for survival by dwelling in the world. Furthermore this process presuposses that technical progress will have a historical culmination. According to Polo, neither can we view man as a finished product now nor in the future, nor can modern technology warrant such a culmination.