Unlike The Position That Exists In The

The Socratic Maxim That The Recognition Of Our Ignorance Is The Beginning Of Wisdom Has Profound Significance For Our Understanding Of Society. Most Of The Advantages Of Social Life, Especially In The More Advanced Forms That We Call "civilization" Rest On The Fact That The Individual Benefits From More Knowledge Than He Is Aware Of. It Might Be Said That Civilization Begins When The Individual In The Pursuit Of His Ends Can Make Use Of More Knowledge Than He Has Himself Acquired And When He Can Transcend The Boundaries Of His Ignorance By Profiting From Knowledge He Does Not Himself Possess.

All Political Theories Assume, Of Course, That Most Individuals Are Very Ignorant. Those Who Plead For Liberty Differ From The Rest In That They Include Among The Ignorant Themselves As Well As The Wisest.

To Rest The Case For Equal Treatment Of National Or Racial Minorities On The Assumption That They Do Not Differ From Other Men Is Implicitly To Admit That Factual Inequality Would Justify Unequal Treatment, And The Proof That Some Differences Do, In Fact, Exist Would Not Be Long In Forthcoming. It Is Of The Essence Of The Demand For Equality Before The Law That People Should Be Treated Alike In Spite Of The Fact That They Are Different.

Democracy Is Essentially A Means, A Utilitarian Device For Safeguarding Internal Peace And Individual Freedom. As Such It Is By No Means Infallible Or Certain. Nor Must We Forget That There Has Often Been Much More Cultural And Spiritual Freedom Under An Autocratic Rule Than Under Some Democracies And It Is At Least Conceivable That Under The Government Of A Very Homogeneous And Doctrinaire Majority Democratic Government Might Be As Oppressive As The Worst Dictatorship.

When It Becomes Dominated By A Collectivist Creed, Democracy Will Inevitably Destroy Itself.