Virtue and Irony in American Democracy
Regular price
€49.99
14 days return policy
Shipping & Delivery
A01=Daniel A. Morris
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Daniel A. Morris
automatic-update
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=HPS
Category=JPA
Category=JPVH
Category=QDTS
COP=United States
critique of capitalism
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
democratic theory
democratic virtue
e pluribus unum
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
humility
John Dewey
Language_English
mutuality
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
Reinhold Niebuhr
religion in public discourse
softlaunch
tolerance
Product details
- ISBN 9781498500760
- Weight: 404g
- Dimensions: 150 x 223mm
- Publication Date: 11 Apr 2019
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
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.
Daniel A. Morris is lecturer in the Religion Department at Augustana College.
