Tag reinhold niebuhr

April 17, 2012
in American History, History, Philosophy, Religion

The Amorality of the State: An Excerpt from Why Niebuhr Matters

April 17, 2012
in American History, History, Philosophy, Religion

Famously cited as one of Obama’s favorite philosophers, midcentury religious and political thinker Reinhold Niebuhr offered “a political realism that refuses to abandon high moral principles to short-term practical compromises.” In Why Niebuhr Matters, from Yale University Press’s Why X Matters Series, author Charles Lemert explores the continued relevance of

November 2, 2011
in American History, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion

One of Obama’s Favorite Philosophers

November 2, 2011
in American History, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion

Reinhold Niebuhr’s best known contribution to contemporary culture is rarely associated with his name. “God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other,” Niebuhr wrote in