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托克维尔是19世纪法国最为著名的思想家之一。他的《论美国的民主》与《旧制度与大革命》被奉为不朽名著。因此,学者通常将“托克维尔研究”置于美国与法国的背景之下。但是,英国与托克维尔也有着紧密的联系,对他的政治思想产生了重要影响。托克维尔分别在1833年、1835年和1857年三次赴英国考察。他对英国的贵族予以特别的关注,并将英国与法国的贵族进行对比。虽然托克维尔欣赏英国的改良道路,但是他并不希望法国亦步亦趋。他认为英国在历史进程中始终表现出的对“自由”的珍视,才是真正值得借鉴的。而连英国这种贵族特点鲜明的国家,也以特有的方式身处现代民主的进程之中,让托克维尔更加坚定了“平等的自由”的立场。托克维尔旅英的目的,就在于观察英国如何将“贵族的自由”中优良的因素注入到“平等的自由”中去。
Tocqueville is one of the most famous thinkers of the nineteenth century in France. His “On American Democracy” and “The Old System and the Great Revolution” are regarded as immortal masterpieces. Therefore, scholars usually place “Tocqueville Research” in the context of the United States and France. However, Britain also has close ties with Tocqueville and has had a significant impact on his political thinking. Tocqueville visited Britain three times in 1833, 1835 and 1857 respectively. He paid special attention to British aristocrats and compared British and French nobility. Although Tocqueville admired the improvements of Britain, he did not want France to follow suit. He believes that what Britain has always cherished in the course of history is really worth learning from the “freedom.” Even the United Kingdom, a country characterized by its aristocracy, is also uniquely placed in the process of modern democracy, and Tocqueville has strengthened its stance of “equal freedom.” The purpose of Tocqueville’s journey to Britain lies in observing how Britain has injected the fine elements of “the freedom of aristocrats” into “equal freedom.”