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Reinhold Niebuhr And John Dewey
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Book Synopsis Reinhold Niebuhr and John Dewey by : Daniel F. Rice
Download or read book Reinhold Niebuhr and John Dewey written by Daniel F. Rice and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1993-03-24 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reinhold Niebuhr and John Dewey frequently have been identified as the most influential American philosophers of their respective times. Although their direct contact in print and in political action was marginal, their substantive conflict over such issues as religion, naturalism, the liberal tradition, and democracy both reflected and shaped much of America's inner dialogue from 1932 to mid-century and beyond. In this intriguing book, Daniel Rice makes a strong case that, although the clash between Niebuhr and Dewey was real and important, in a wider context the two shared more insights than either realized.
Book Synopsis Virtue and Irony in American Democracy by : Daniel A. Morris
Download or read book Virtue and Irony in American Democracy written by Daniel A. Morris and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2015-07-01 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What virtues are necessary for democracy to succeed? This book turns to John Dewey and Reinhold Niebuhr, two of America’s most influential theorists of democracy, to answer this question. Dewey and Niebuhr both implied—although for very different reasons—that humility and mutuality are important virtues for the success of people rule. Not only do these virtues allow people to participate well in their own governance, they also equip us to meet challenges to democracy generated by free-market economic policy and practices. Ironically, though, Dewey and Niebuhr quarreled with each other for twenty years and missed the opportunity to achieve political consensus. In their discourse with each other they failed to become “one out of many,” a task that is distilled in the democratic rallying cry “e pluribus unum.” This failure itself reflects a deficiency in democratic virtue. Thus, exploring the Dewey/Niebuhr debate with attention to their discursive failures reveals the importance of a third virtue: democratic tolerance. If democracy is to succeed, we must cultivate a deeper hospitality toward difference than Dewey and Niebuhr were able to extend to each other.
Book Synopsis Reinhold Niebuhr and John Dewey by : Daniel F. Rice
Download or read book Reinhold Niebuhr and John Dewey written by Daniel F. Rice and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1993-01-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reinhold Niebuhr and John Dewey frequently have been identified as the most influential American philosophers of their respective times. Although their direct contact in print and in political action was marginal, their substantive conflict over such issues as religion, naturalism, the liberal tradition, and democracy both reflected and shaped much of America's inner dialogue from 1932 to mid-century and beyond. In this intriguing book, Daniel Rice makes a strong case that, although the clash between Niebuhr and Dewey was real and important, in a wider context the two shared more insights than either realized.
Download or read book Dewey and Power written by Randy Hewitt and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dewey and Power develops out of criticism that John Dewey’s work lacks a sufficient concept of power, thus rendering his faith in an amelioristic sense of experience and a democratic ideal untenable. According to philosopher Cornel West, Dewey gives ameliorism its most mature social, political, and ethical justification. Alan Ryan suggests that Dewey represented “thinking America” at its best. Dewey’s critics maintain, however, that this best is not good enough. If their criticism of Dewey goes unchallenged, one of the most intelligent, philosophically consistent visions of ethical behavior in a world shot through with difference, risk, danger, and change becomes damned. The upshot is lost faith in the idea that the give and take of mutual reference and pooled intelligence can lead to ever wider points of contact with each other that will enrich the significance of our individual quests together. Furthermore, lost faith in ameliorism and democracy implies a lost faith in a democratic education. The purpose of Dewey and Power, therefore, is to explore the diverse critiques of his alleged insufficient concept of power and to represent Dewey’s work in a way that his critics’ claims can be evaluated. The key word here is evaluate. The book is not a simple apology for Dewey’s position on these matters. First, the book works out Dewey’s concept of power as it comes out of his understanding of the psycho-physiological makeup of the human organism. Then the analysis of power as it is psycho-physiologically interpreted is extended to incorporate Dewey’s ontological insights, especially that of the directing influence of social custom on habit. This process unveils a concept of power that includes both domination and liberation. Furthermore, the relation between Dewey’s sense of power and his faith in a democratic ideal is drawn out in explicit detail. Next, the book provides a full delineation of Dewey’s critics’ claims and measures the worth of these claims in light of what the preceding examination suggests in reference to Dewey’s idea of power. This analysis makes clear that Dewey understood that power can be as productively oppressive as it can be productively liberating. Finally, the book traces out why Dewey’s concept of power can be deployed in the construction of a critical, democratic education.
Book Synopsis Reinhold Niebuhr and His Circle of Influence by : Daniel F. Rice
Download or read book Reinhold Niebuhr and His Circle of Influence written by Daniel F. Rice and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents Reinhold Niebuhr, the prominent American theologian, in dialogue with seven individuals who each had a major influence on American life.
Book Synopsis John Dewey and American Democracy by : Robert B. Westbrook
Download or read book John Dewey and American Democracy written by Robert B. Westbrook and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2015-06-09 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over a career spanning American history from the 1880s to the 1950s, John Dewey sought not only to forge a persuasive argument for his conviction that "democracy is freedom" but also to realize his democratic ideals through political activism. Widely considered modern America's most important philosopher, Dewey made his views known both through his writings and through such controversial episodes as his leadership of educational reform at the turn of the century; his support of American intervention in World War I and his leading role in the Outlawry of War movement after the war; and his participation in both radical and anti-communist politics in the 1930s and 40s. Robert B. Westbrook reconstructs the evolution of Dewey's thought and practice in this masterful intellectual biography, combining readings of his major works with an engaging account of key chapters in his activism. Westbrook pays particular attention to the impact upon Dewey of conversations and debates with contemporaries from William James and Reinhold Niebuhr to Jane Addams and Leon Trotsky. Countering prevailing interpretations of Dewey's contribution to the ideology of American liberalism, he discovers a more unorthodox Dewey—a deviant within the liberal community who was steadily radicalized by his profound faith in participatory democracy. Anyone concerned with the nature of democracy and the future of liberalism in America—including educators, moral and social philosophers, social scientists, political theorists, and intellectual and cultural historians—will find John Dewey and American Democracy indispensable reading.
Book Synopsis The Undiscovered Dewey by : Melvin L. Rogers
Download or read book The Undiscovered Dewey written by Melvin L. Rogers and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Undiscovered Dewey explores the profound influence of evolution and its corresponding ideas of contingency and uncertainty on John Dewey's philosophy of action, particularly its argument that inquiry proceeds from the uncertainty of human activity. Dewey separated the meaningfulness of inquiry from a larger metaphysical story concerning the certainty of human progress. He then connected this thread to the way in which our reflective capacities aid us in improving our lives. Dewey therefore launched a new understanding of the modern self that encouraged intervention in social and natural environments but which nonetheless demanded courage and humility because of the intimate relationship between action and uncertainty. Melvin L. Rogers explicitly connects Dewey's theory of inquiry to his religious, moral, and political philosophy. He argues that, contrary to common belief, Dewey sought a place for religious commitment within a democratic society sensitive to modern pluralism. Against those who regard Dewey as indifferent to moral conflict, Rogers points to Dewey's appreciation for the incommensurability of our ethical commitments. His deep respect for modern pluralism, argues Rogers, led Dewey to articulate a negotiation between experts and the public so that power did not lapse into domination. Exhibiting an abiding faith in the reflective and contestable character of inquiry, Dewey strongly engaged with the complexity of our religious, moral, and political lives.
Download or read book John Dewey written by Steven Rockefeller and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 1994-03-01 with total page 702 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combining ?biography and intellectual history, Steven Rockefeller offers an illuminating introduction to the philosophy of John Dewey, with special emphasis on the evolution of the religious faith and moral vision at the heart of his thought. This study pays particular attention to Dewey's radical democratic reconstruction of Christianity and his many contributions to the American tradition of spiritual democracy. Rockefeller presents the first full exploration of Dewey's religious thought, including its mystical dimension. Covering Dewey's entire intellectual life, the author provides a clear introduction to Dewey's early neo-Hegelian idealism as well as to his later naturalistic metaphysics, epistemology, theory of education, theory of evaluation, and philosophy of religion. The author tells the story of the evolution of this faith and philosophical vision, offering fresh insight into the enduring value of the thought of America's foremost philosopher.
Book Synopsis Transforming Experience by : Michael Eldridge
Download or read book Transforming Experience written by Michael Eldridge and published by Vanderbilt University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eldridge deconstructs Dewey's secular conception of the divine in the context of his instrumentalism, leading to a change in the purpose of Dewey's promotion of intelligent action and the implications of his elevation of the "problems of man" above "problems of philosophers."
Book Synopsis The Politics of John Dewey by : Gary Bullert
Download or read book The Politics of John Dewey written by Gary Bullert and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Dewey was one of the foremost social and political philosophers of the twentieth century. He worked to reorient philosophy toward the concrete problems of humankind and tirelessly addressed himself to the public issues of his day, remaining at the center of heated intellectual and public controversy. This book contains the most complete documentary account of Dewey's political thought and activities available. Dewey's enduring insights into democratic politics are still relevant today. Dewey grounded his political ideals historically within the American democratic experience and sought to adapt Jeffersonian idealism to the corporate-industrial age. Like Jefferson, Dewey maintained that the roots of the American political tradition are moral, not merely a means to material gain. Dewey's theory of democracy was designed to reconcile freedom with authority, social stability with the need for reform, and universal standards with specific circumstances. Dewey maintained an unyielding commitment to scientific intelligence and free critical thought. He recognized that at the heart of all policy making is a value judgment. Nevertheless, he held that rational grounds can be found to justify some courses of conduct as more valid than others. By examining Dewey's political activities, The Politics of John Dewey assesses the viability of pragmatic liberalism by its own standard and describes the significant contributions of this influential American philosopher.
Book Synopsis Why Niebuhr Now? by : John Patrick Diggins
Download or read book Why Niebuhr Now? written by John Patrick Diggins and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-06-15 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Barack Obama has called him “one of my favorite philosophers.” John McCain wrote that he is “a paragon of clarity about the costs of a good war.” Andrew Sullivan has said, “We need Niebuhr now more than ever.” For a theologian who died in 1971, Reinhold Niebuhr is maintaining a remarkably high profile in the twenty-first century. In Why Niebuhr Now? acclaimed historian John Patrick Diggins tackles the complicated question of why, at a time of great uncertainty about America’s proper role in the world, leading politicians and thinkers are turning to Niebuhr for answers. Diggins begins by clearly and carefully working through Niebuhr’s theology, which focuses less on God’s presence than his absence—and the ways that absence abets the all-too-human sin of pride. He then shows how that theology informed Niebuhr’s worldview, leading him to be at the same time a strong opponent of fascism and communism and a leading advocate for humility and caution in foreign policy. Turning to the present, Diggins highlights what he argues is a misuse of Niebuhr’s legacy on both the right and the left: while neoconservatives distort Niebuhr’s arguments to support their call for an endless war on terror in the name of stopping evil, many liberal interventionists conveniently ignore Niebuhr’s fundamental doubts about power. Ultimately, Niebuhr’s greatest lesson is that, while it is our duty to struggle for good, we must at the same time be wary of hubris, remembering the limits of our understanding. The final work from a distinguished writer who spent his entire career reflecting on America’s history and promise, Why Niebuhr Now? is a compact and perceptive book that will be the starting point for all future discussions of Niebuhr.
Book Synopsis The Promise of Pragmatism by : John Patrick Diggins
Download or read book The Promise of Pragmatism written by John Patrick Diggins and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1995-05-15 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For much of our century, pragmatism has enjoyed a charmed life, holding the dominant point of view in American politics, law, education, and social thought in general. After suffering a brief eclipse in the post-World War II period, pragmatism has enjoyed a revival, especially in literary theory and such areas as poststructuralism and deconstruction. In this sweeping critique of pragmatism and neopragmatism, one of our leading intellectual historians traces the attempts of thinkers from William James to Richard Rorty to find a response to the crisis of modernism. John Patrick Diggins analyzes the limitations of pragmatism from a historical perspective and dares to ask whether America's one original contribution to the world of philosophy has actually fulfilled its promise. In the late nineteenth century, intellectuals felt themselves in the grips of a spiritual crisis. This confrontation with the "acids of modernity" eroded older faiths and led to a sense that life would continue in the awareness, of absences: knowledge without truth, power without authority, society without spirit, self without identity, politics without virtue, existence without purpose, history without meaning. In Europe, Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Weber faced a world in which God was "dead" and society was succumbing to structures of power and domination. In America, Henry Adams resigned from Harvard when he realized there were no truths to be taught and when he could only conclude: "Experience ceases to educate." To the American philosophers of pragmatism, it was experience that provided the basis on which new methods of knowing could replace older ideas of truth. Diggins examines how, in different ways, William James, Charles Peirce, John Dewey, George H. Mead, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., demonstrated that modernism posed no obstacle in fields such as science, education, religion, law, politics, and diplomacy. Diggins also examines the work of the neopragmatists Jurgen Habermas and Richard Rorty and their attempt to resolve the crisis of postmodernism. Using one author to interrogate another, Diggins brilliantly allows the ideas to speak to our conditions as well as theirs. Did the older philosophers succeed in fulfilling the promises of pragmatism? Can the neopragmatists write their way out of what they have thought themselves into? And does America need philosophers to tell us that we do not need foundational truths when the Founders already told us that the Constitution would be a "machine" that would depend more upon the "counterpoise" of power than on the claims of knowledge? Diggins addresses these and other essential questions in this magisterial account of twentieth-century intellectual life. It should be read by everyone concerned about the roots of postmodernism (and its links to pragmatism) and about the forms of thought and action available for confronting a world after postmodernism.
Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Reinhold Niebuhr by : Robin Lovin
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Reinhold Niebuhr written by Robin Lovin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-03-03 with total page 666 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reinhold Niebuhr was a theologian, writer, and public intellectual who influenced religious leaders and social activists in the United States over four crucial decades in the middle of the twentieth century. The Oxford Handbook of Reinhold Niebuhr traces the development of his work through those years and provides an introduction to the dialogue partners and intellectual adversaries whom he influenced and who shaped his own thinking. It deals with major topics in theology and ethics, providing systematic focus to Niebuhr's wide-ranging works that were directed to many different audiences. Later chapters examine Niebuhr's contributions to political thinking and policy making on issues including international relations, pacifism and the use of force, racial and economic justice, family life and gender equality, and environmental concerns. The concluding section examines Niebuhr's legacy and continuing influence.
Download or read book Community Denied written by James Hoopes and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did modern American social thought take a wrong turn when it followed John Dewey and William James? In this searching history of early twentieth-century political theory, James Hoopes suggests that, contrary to conventional wisdom, these pragmatic philosophers did not provide the basis for a socially-minded political theory. Dewey and James did not provide intellectual safeguards against the amoral acceptance of realpolitik and managerial elitism that has given liberalism a bad name. Hoopes finds a more substantial basis for liberal political theory in the communitarian-based pragmatism of Charles Sanders Peirce. Had modern social thought been influenced by Peirce, argues Hoopes, society could be seen as a set of interpretive relationships rather than a collection of discrete interests to be managed from the top down by elitist experts. Hoopes traces the influence of James and Dewey in the thought of Walter Lippman, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Mary Parker Follett. He concludes with a critical examination of contemporary thinkers, most notably Richard Rorty, who believe that James and Dewey offered the most socially useful philosophy within the pragmatic tradition. Combining philosophy, political theory, history, and close textual analysis in original ways, Community Denied offers a bold departure from previous studies of the subject and demonstrates the damage done to liberalism by reliance on a philosophy with no way of truly conceptualizing community.
Book Synopsis Professor Reinhold Niebuhr by : Ronald H. Stone
Download or read book Professor Reinhold Niebuhr written by Ronald H. Stone and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stone breaks new ground by providing a fresh survey of Reinhold Niebuhr as professor, demonstrating that this vocation was central to Niebuhr's lifework. This book reveals Niebuhr's passion for the development of an intellectually equipped, socially concerned Christian ministry. Stone was Niebuhr's last graduate assistant. Bibliography. Index.
Book Synopsis The Theological Vision of Reinhold Niebuhr's "The Irony of American History" by : Scott R. Erwin
Download or read book The Theological Vision of Reinhold Niebuhr's "The Irony of American History" written by Scott R. Erwin and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-06-13 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reinhold Niebuhr remains at the center of a national conversation about Americas role in the world, and commentators with divergent political and religious positions look to his 1952 work, The Irony of American History, in support of their views. In this study, Scott R. Erwin argues that an appreciation of Niebuhrs theological vision is necessary for understanding the full measure of Irony and his perspective on life more broadly. Such a study is important because many individuals reading Irony today fail to acknowledge the central role that his Christian beliefs played in his writings. Niebuhr described his theological vision as being in the battle and above it, and it was this perspective that led Niebuhr, in Irony, to assert that America must both take morally hazardous action in combating the aggression of the Soviet Union and engage in critical self-evaluation to prevent the country from assuming the most odious traits of its Cold War foe. Niebuhr developed his theological vision over the course of the 1930s and 1940s through engagement with Christian doctrine, as most readily seen in his academic works such as The Nature and Destiny of Man, and with current events, as seen in his many journalistic writings during this period. By focusing primarily on Niebuhrs writings between 1931 and 1952, Erwin traces the development of his Christian interpretation of human nature and history, establishes how it informed his theological vision, and reveals how that theological vision underlies his writings on current affairs.
Book Synopsis Moral Man and Immoral Society by : Reinhold Niebuhr
Download or read book Moral Man and Immoral Society written by Reinhold Niebuhr and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Arguably his most famous book, Moral Man and Immoral Society is Reinhold Niebuhr's important early study (1932) in ethics and politics. Widely read and continually relevant, this book marked Niebuhr's decisive break from progressive religion and politics toward a more deeply tragic view of human nature and history. Forthright and realistic, Moral Man and Immoral Society argues that individual morality is intrinsically incompatible with collective life, thus making social and political conflict inevitable. Niebuhr further discusses our inability to imagine the realities of collective power; the brutal behavior of human collectives of every sort; and, ultimately, how individual morality can mitigate the persistence of social immorality. This new edition includes a foreword by Cornel West that explores the continued interest in Niebuhr's thought and its contemporary relevance.
