Virtue and Irony in American Democracy: Revisiting Dewey and Niebuhr

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What virtues are necessary for democracy to succeed This book turns to John Dewey and Reinhold Niebuhr, two of Americas most influential theorists of democracy, to answer this question. Dewey and Niebuhr both impliedalthough for very different reasonsthat 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.

Reviews

Sometime in the spring of 1968marked, as it was, by the assassinations of MLK and RFK, and the Tet Offensivethe New Left replaced the Old and the focus of sociopolitical attention shifted from economics, the distribution of power, institutional purpose, and progress to political identity, suspicion of power, self-fulfillment, and revolution.The shift was probably both necessary and inevitable, but a decade and a half into the twenty-first century, many of the concerns of the Old Left are ascendant.We are, therefore, fortunate to have Dan Morris' new book re-introduce us to two towering figures of the Old Left:John Dewey and Reinhold Niebuhr.Morris deftly links the philosopher and the theologian to each other, managing not only to walk us through their work and their conflicts but to bring their insights to bear on some of the most pressing issues we now face. -- Mark Douglas, Columbia Theological Seminary
InVirtue and IronyDan Morris sets a new standard for democratically engaged scholarship. His compelling account of Niebuhr's Augustinian Protestantism and Dewey's philosophical pragmatism provides a distinctive point of departure for a democratic approach to virtue ethics.While others have attempted to situate virtues such as tolerance, mutality, and humility as important character traits for successful democratic living, Morris uses the unresolved Dewey/Niebuhr debate to illuminate the possibilities for developing these core dispositions for democracy. Morris's dynamic reading of the major figures of American Democratic thought, such as Jefferson, Franklin, and Lincoln, and his wonderfully generative interpretation of moral philosophers such as Rawls, Rorty, MacIntyre, is energetic and invitingI did not want to put it down!Dan Morris has given us lucid analysis of the central texts that inform our democratic heritage. His eloquent pen moves from Aristotle to contemporary feminism and Afro-pragmatism with the grace of a symphonic wand.This is a powerful prescription for many of the ills that threaten the delicate social fabric of democratic life. It is my hope that we heed Daniel Morris's call, through Dewey and Niebuhr, to a more rich democratic world. -- Andre C. Willis, Brown University

Author Bio

Daniel A. Morris is lecturer in the Religion Department at Augustana College.