Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics

by Reinhold Niebuhr, Cornel West (Foreword by)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780664235390
Publisher:	Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date:	01/18/2013
Series:	Library of Theological Ethics Series
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Reinhold Niebuhr was a theologian, Christian ethicist, and public intellectual who taught for more than thirty years at Union Theological Seminary in New York.

Cornel West holds a joint appointment at the Harvard Divinity School and the Harvard Department of African and African American Studies as Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy. He is the author of several works, including Prophesy Deliverance!

Table of Contents

	General Editors' Introduction	ix
	Introduction	xi
	Preface to the 1960 Edition	xxiii
	Introduction	xxv
I.	Man and Society: The Art of Living Together	1
II.	The Rational Resources of the Individual for Social Living	23
III.	The Religious Resources of the Individual for Social Living	51
IV.	The Morality of Nations	83
V.	The Ethical Attitudes of Privileged Classes	113
VI.	The Ethical Attitudes of the Proletarian Class	142
VII.	Justice through Revolution	169
VIII.	Justice through Political Force	200
IX.	The Preservation of Moral Values in Politics	231
X.	The Conflict between Individual and Social Morality	257
	Index	279