The Order of Authorities : George Cornewall Lewis on Professionals and Politics

Abstract

  The present article explains interesting points that George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863)'s theory on authority raised when observed in a historical context. Lewis was an eminent statesman and an excellent man of letters, but he has been almost forgotten. This article chiefly examines “An Essay on the Influence of Authority in Matters of Opinion” (1849) as a starting point to approach his social thought as a whole. Among many Lewis's treatises, this book is the most important work for the investigation of his theory on authority.

  When inquired from our aspect, the most important authority this book presented is the authority of professionals, because gentleman was the ideal type of man for his contemporaries. Gentleman was a man of landed upper class and had comprehension of wide literal culture, and thus, was not a narrow-eyed man. On the other hand, professionals were to make themselves specialize in one calling and earned for his bread ; so they were generally seen with considerable contempt. (Lewis meant by profession lawyer, physician, engineer and so on.) However, Lewis dared to defend professionals as authority, and claimed a proper social position for them. He advocated professional as a man with particular scientific knowledge. Of course, since they had knowledge of only one field, a society comprised of various kinds of professionals. Lewis argued that to each field State should give support, but he denied its intervention. In Lewis's vision, society of professions was based on a spontaneous and a plural order, and people were to chose a proper authority rationally in each situation.

  However this argument on professionals did not cover the whole body of Lewis's political thought. He also argued that political bodies should be run in accordance with the “principle of corporate action”, and thus, he advocated (aristocratic or democratic) republic as a form of government ; its ultimate decision should be made by plural persons in an assembly. This assembly had a “supreme political authority (sovereignty)”, and thus, unavoidably, its decision had to be made by a majority of that assembly.

  Moreover, in the political realm, he did not demand a critical position for professionals like other realms. In addition, he did not accept the professional of politics. Thus statesmen had to understand history from the ancient time.

  Among various kinds of republics, he especially defended a representative government as an aristocracy. In his ideal constitution, people (the inferior) chose superior aristocracy, and a real political judgement was sanctioned by the latter. Therefore, in spite of many differences, his idea of political constitution appeared with the same form of other professional realms : one can find his vision of the order of authorities lying both in professional realm and politics.