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Democratic Humility

Reinhold Niebuhr, Neuroscience, and America’s Political Crisis

Christopher Beem

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.

Lexington Books

Pages: 200 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-4985-1142-1 • Hardback • June 2015 • $102.00 • (£78.00)

978-1-4985-1144-5 • Paperback • May 2019 • $40.99 • (£32.00)

978-1-4985-1143-8 • eBook • June 2015 • $39.00 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Political Science / American Government / National, Political Science / History & Theory, Political Science / Political Ideologies / Democracy, Religion / Christian Theology / History

Democratic Humility

Reinhold Niebuhr, Neuroscience, and America’s Political Crisis

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

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.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 200 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-4985-1142-1 • Hardback • June 2015 • $102.00 • (£78.00)

978-1-4985-1144-5 • Paperback • May 2019 • $40.99 • (£32.00)

978-1-4985-1143-8 • eBook • June 2015 • $39.00 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Political Science / American Government / National, Political Science / History & Theory, Political Science / Political Ideologies / Democracy, Religion / Christian Theology / History

Author

Christopher Beem received his PhD from the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Features

12/5/19 - With a Side of Knowledge, a podcast from the University of Notre Dame Provost Office, featured author Chris Beem on a recent episode, entitled “On Democracy and Difficult Questions.” Link: https://provost.nd.edu/news/podcast-explores-democracy-and-difficult-questions-with-penn-states-chris-beem/

Democratic Humility

Reinhold Niebuhr, Neuroscience, and America’s Political Crisis

Christopher Beem

Democratic Humility

Reinhold Niebuhr, Neuroscience, and America’s Political Crisis

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