The Democratic Spirit — rigor-plus-humility as DFW's language-politics ethic
echoes
From: Authority and American Usage
- Early text: usage issues are "at root political" and
addressable only in what the article "hereby terms" a Democratic Spirit —
"A Democratic Spirit is one that combines rigor and humility, i.e.,
passionate conviction plus a sedulous respect for the convictions of
others." [body, THESIS STATEMENT FOR WHOLE ARTICLE section] [e-text]
- IJ echo: DFW's recurring ethic of held-together conviction and humility
— the anti-ironic, anti-dogmatic sincerity IJ works toward (the AA program's
epistemic humility; the novel's suspicion of both cynical relativism and
rigid zealotry). The "Democratic Spirit" is the rhetorical-ethics version of
the same sincerity program EUP and the McCaffery interview state.
- Weight: shared-preoccupation