Abstract

The object of this article is to conduct an analysis of Tocqueville’s religion by valuing Correspondence and trying to decode, within it, the role and meaning of Alexis’ personal faith. I intend to corroborate the thesis that the traces of autobiography that we find in the letters offer an essential red thread for understanding his historical-political theory. What Tocqueville writes on religion closely reflects the fluctuations, the problematic points of his personal faith. It can be said that the latter decisively guides the interpretation of the nature, developments, and events of American democracy and, more generally, of democracy tout court. The “doubtµ about the Christian-Catholic religion reflects on the orientation of the Tocquevillian judgment on the democratic system and its destiny