Democratic Humility

Reinhold Niebuhr, Neuroscience, and America’s Political Crisis

Christopher Beem (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

356 Seiten

2019
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-4985-1144-5 (ISBN)

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Reinhold Niebuhr helps us to understand why our politics is broken and research on the brain confirms his analysis: we are all vain and self-righteous, and far too quick to reject anyone who thinks otherwise. To restore a democracy that works, we need to understand ourselves better and develop the humility such knowledge should engender.

American politics is in a state of crisis but it is not clear why. Nor do we know what to do about it. Reinhold Niebuhr helps us understand what is wrong with our politics and research into the workings of the brain confirms his analysis. Call it sin or motivated reasoning and confirmation bias, the bottom line is that all of us are what Niebuhr calls “Children of Light.” We are all vain and self-righteous about our beliefs and values, and far too quick to reject any information that goes against them. The unprecedented rise of talk radio and cable news helps to account for why things are so bad. We all want to hear that our group is smarter and more moral than others. To restore a democracy that functions, we need to understand ourselves better and develop the humility that such knowledge should engender.

Christopher Beem is associate research professor of political science and managing director of the McCourtney Institute of Democracy at Penn State University.

Chapter 1: Moderating our Pretensions: Niebuhr on Being Human
Chapter 2: Between Sentimentality and Pessimism: Niebuhr on Democracy
Chapter 3: Neuroscientists for Niebuhr
Chapter 4: Rattlers and Eagles/Democrats and Republicans
Chapter 5: Partisan Infotainment: A New Business Model for the New Media
Chapter 6: Partisan Infotainment and Democracy: Not All Bad, Not Half Good
Chapter 7: Weapons and Instruments: Using Government to Fix Government
Chapter 8: Religion: “a constant fount of humility”
Chapter 9: “Guardians of Democracy”: Democratic Humility through Civic Education
Conclusion: Democratic Humility

Erscheint lt. Verlag	1.8.2019
Verlagsort	Lanham, MD
Sprache	englisch
Maße	154 x 220 mm
Gewicht	295 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Christentum
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Systeme
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Theorie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Staat / Verwaltung
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
ISBN-10	1-4985-1144-9 / 1498511449
ISBN-13	978-1-4985-1144-5 / 9781498511445
Zustand	Neuware