Freethought Discussion: Citizen Irrationality

Topic: Citizen Irrationality—And What to Do about It

Moderator: Alan E. Johnson

Citizen irrationality is becoming increasingly prevalent in America. On the Right, it is manifested by such developments as the January 6, 2021 insurrection and the embrace of authoritarian ideology and practice among right-wing leaders and followers. On the Left, especially in academia, we see a hardened ideology that is intolerant of any other ideas and a postmodernist Weltanschauung that is predicated on relativism and an explicit rejection of reason.

Such attitudes are based on a profound ignorance or lack of appreciation of the principles and values of the US constitutional system as well as a predilection for irrational thinking.

Is it possible to overcome this backsliding of fundamental democratic-republican values? If so, how?

References (not required reading):

Civics (History and Government) Questions for the US Naturalization Test: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/100q.pdf.

Institute for Citizens & Scholars, “National Survey Finds Just 1 in 3 Americans Would Pass Citizenship Test,” Oct. 3, 2018: https://citizensandscholars.org/resource/national-survey-finds-just-1-in-3-americans-would-pass-citizenship-test/.

“Civic Education in the United States”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_education_in_the_United_States.

Alan E. Johnson, Reason and Human Ethics (Pittsburgh, PA: Philosophia, 2022), chapters 2 (“Human Reason,” reproduced at https://www.academia.edu/82835731/Excerpts_from_Reason_and_Human_Ethics_by_Alan_E_Johnson, pp. 31–62) and 5 (“Citizen Ethics”).

John J. Davenport, “A Robust Civics Education: A National Standard to Empower Citizens,” in The Democracy Amendments: Constitutional Reforms to Save the United States (London: Anthem, 2023), 241–55, Kindle.

A Contrarian View: Jason Brennan, “Epistocracy: A Better Form of Democracy or Rule by Philosophers?,” Erraticus, March 22, 2019: https://erraticus.co/2019/03/22/epistocracy-better-democracy/. Brennan is the author of Against Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2017).

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