Where once there was robust, enduring debate about the so-called Great Man Theory of History — from Thomas Carlyle to Herbert Spencer to William James, with bows along the way to Hegel, Nietzsche and Jacob Burckhardt — today there is nary a word to such effect. More than anything, I suspect, this is due to the fact that there no longer are any readily identifiable great men (or women) among us; they have been summarily displaced by legions of little men and women, who now surround us in virtually every walk of life. This gives life to an emergent Little Man Theory that defines our present and promises to dictate our future.
