Tocqueville himself noted that “Americans are more addicted to practical than to theoretical science,” and that “they mistrust systems” of the usual Platonic-Hegelian pattern. “They adhere closely to facts, and study facts with their own senses.” In fact, Tocqueville concluded that they had invented their own philosophical method without realizing it, one that “accepts tradition only as a means of information and existing facts only as a lesson to be used in doing otherwise, and doing better.” In short, a bias toward progress was built into the American character, along with a love of liberty
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