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Pragmatism and Christian Realism in the Political Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr : an Analysis and Evolution of American Liberalism James Doughty

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Pragmatism and Christian Realism in the Political Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr : an Analysis and Evolution of American Liberalism James Doughty Pragmatism and Christian Realism in the Political Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr : An Analysis and Evolution of American Liberalism James Doughty To cite this version: James Doughty. Pragmatism and Christian Realism in the Political Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr : An Analysis and Evolution of American Liberalism. Philosophy. Université Michel de Montaigne - Bordeaux III, 2017. English. NNT : 2017BOR30026. tel-01707895 HAL Id: tel-01707895 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01707895 Submitted on 13 Feb 2018 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Université Bordeaux Montaigne École Doctorale Montaigne Humanités (ED 480) THÈSE DE DOCTORAT EN ÉTUDES ANGLOPHONES Pragmatism and Christian Realism in the Political Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr An Analysis and Evolution of American Liberalism Présentée et soutenue publiquement le 08 décembre 2017 par James DOUGHTY Sous la direction du Professeur Arnaud Schmitt Membres du jury Patrick DI MASCIO, Maître de conférences HDR, Aix-Marseille Université Blandine PONT-CHELINI, Professeure, Aix-Marseille Université Anne DEYSINE, Professeure émérite des Universités, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre Arnaud SCHMITT, Professeur, Université de Bordeaux 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements p. 5 Introduction p. 7 Liberalism: Its Origins and Evolutions p. 31 1.0.0 Liberal Theory: From Europe to the American Colonies p. 31 1.1.0 European Liberalism: Roots of American Thought p. 31 1.2.0 Thinkers of the Enlightenments: Building Blocks of American Liberalism p. 37 1.2.1 A Sense to the Universe: The Scottish Enlightenment and the Theory of Spontaneous Order p. 38 1.2.2 The Separation of Powers and Need for Moderation: Montesquieu and Liberal Thought p. 44 1.3.0 Americanization of European Thought p. 50 1.3.1 “Keep Calm and Carry On”: Moderation of Montesquieu and the Scottish Enlightenment in America p. 52 1.3.2 The Federalist and the Economic Pursuit of Self-Interest p. 55 1.3.3 John Adams: The Enlightened Federalist p. 60 1.3.4 Thomas Jefferson: The Revolutionary Enlightenment Thinker p. 62 History, Religion and Politics in Pragmatism and Christian Realism p. 69 2.0.0 Freedom, Equality, and Religion in Pragmatism and Christian Realism p. 69 2.0.1 Pragmatism: American Practicality or Philosophical Wisdom? p. 74 2.0.2 The First Modern War: Creation of the Non-Ideology Ideology p. 76 2.1.0 An Evolutionary Revolution p. 78 2.1.1 Political Pragmatism: The Individual and Society p. 81 2.2.0 Democracy and the State: Model Versus Reality p. 83 2.2.1 Democratic School Reform: Education and Democracy p. 88 2 2.3.0 Christian Realism: An Ethical Use of Power p. 94 2.3.1 Human Nature: What it Is and not What It Ought to Be p. 95 2.3.2 Post-War Realism: Balance of Power p. 100 2.3.3 Ethical Statecraft? A Christian Realist Balance p. 103 2.3.4 The Paradox of Man and Society: Power, Conflict, and Patriotism p. 110 2.3.5 Pride is the Limit: Modern Society’s Overestimation of Human Freedom p. 115 2.3.6 The Perks of Being a Protestant: Sin, Pride, and Human Nature p. 120 2.3.7 Christian Realism and State Ethics: A Not-So-Odd Couple p. 126 2.4.0 Defined by Circumstance: A Historical Context p. 137 2.4.1 The Double-Edged Sword of Revolutions: The Industrial Revolution and Its Consequences p. 138 2.5.0 The Great War and Its Aftermath: Liberalism in Crisis p. 143 2.5.1 The League of Notions: The Rise of Fascism and Totalitarianism p. 150 2.5.2 Different Paths; Same Destination: Democracy and Liberalism p. 158 2.5.3 The Nature of Democracies: Same Debate, Different Time Period p. 160 2.6.0 Niebuhr “Malgré lui”: Understanding Niebuhr’s Criticism of Liberalism p. 165 2.7.0 Losing Their Religion? p. 178 2.7.1 Blessed is Democracy: Dewey and Religion p. 181 2.7.2 Sin, Symbolism, and American Protestantism: Niebuhr and Religion p. 188 2.7.3 Dewey, Niebuhr, and Religion: A (Sort of) Common Ground p. 199 The Results of Pride: Pragmatism and Christian Pragmatism in the First Half of the Twentieth Century p. 212 3.0.0 Some Like Them Hot, Some Cold: World War II and the Cold War p. 212 3.0.1 Manufactured Terror and Industrialized Death: The Totalitarian Regime p. 213 3.0.2 We Shan’t Forget, Even if We Try: The Unforgettable Lessons of 3 World War I p. 216 3.0.3 The Public, Technology, and Culture: Problems with Liberal Democracies p. 221 3.0.4 “Just Don’t Mention the War”: Dewey versus Totalitarianism p. 226 3.1.0 History Has Meaning, but Humanity Misses It p. 231 3.1.1 “Prophetic Christianity” against Liberalism p. 234 3.1.2 Learning from History: America’s Responsibility to Intervene p. 247 3.1.3 Straw Men and Over-Simplification: Niebuhr’s Critics p. 252 3.2.0 Democracy Isn’t Perfect, But It’s the Best We Got p. 255 3.3.0 The Inevitability of Class Warfare: Marx and Dialectical Materialism p. 264 3.3.1 Back to “Class”: Marxism 101 p. 267 3.3.2 Socialism versus State-Enforced Socialism: Dewey’s Relationship with Marxism p. 271 3.3.2.1 Science in Name Only: Dewey’s Absolutist Critique of Marxism p. 277 3.3.3 Protecting the “Little Guy”: Don’t Hate the Philosophy, Hate the Extremists p. 284 3.3.3.1 National Interest Trumps Ideology p. 290 3.3.3.2 Power Isn’t Everything: Marxism’s Tyranny p. 292 3.4.0 A Bridge Forged in (Cold) War: The Rise of Niebuhr’s “Christian Pragmatism” p. 295 3.4.1 New World Order, New World Threat: Niebuhr versus Communism p. 298 3.4.1.1 The Totalitarian Nature of Communism p. 303 Conclusion: Niebuhr’s Christian Pragmatism in the 21st Century p. 316 Bibliography p. 337 4 Acknowledgements This dissertation is the culmination of several years of personal devotion, work, and research. However, I would never have been able to make it this far without the help of some extremely talented, wise, and caring people along the way and would like to take a moment to thank them for the conversations, edits, discussions, and input over these past few years. I would like to first thank my research advisor Professor Arnaud Schmitt. His guidance, patience, and contributions have been vital over the course of my dissertation. He not only helped indicate potential weak points in research, methodology, and logic, but also aided by pointing out different beneficial authors and philosophical ideas that I would not have thought of without his assistance. Next, I would like to thank my friends Meghan Hefferan as well as Victoria and William Corby for aiding in the long and arduous process of revising and edits. Your many hours of proofreading helped make my ideas, and more importantly, my words flow with greater ease and eloquence. My parents, Mark and Kelly Doughty deserve equal praise since I was free to make my own choices, and more importantly, my own mistakes which helped me grow. Even though they did not always fully understand my choices, once they saw that it was what I wanted to do, they provided total support. I am not sure they are aware of just how important that was for me growing up and shaping my adult life, but I want them to know that it has helped bring me to where I am today. Another person who deserves my thanks is my mother-in-law, Anna-Marie Passafaro, for the simple reason that without her hard questions, persuasive arguments, and advice back in 2011, I would not be, both literally and figuratively, where I am today. Finally, this dissertation would not have been possible without the emotional support of my husband, Matthew. He helped me stay sane when the weight of the various responsibilities started to take their toll and always helped me keep my head high and see the light at the end of the tunnel. I want to take this moment to tell him how grateful I am for that help, and more importantly, for him. 5 6 Introduction Absolutist and relativist, religious and atheist, liberal and conservative; throughout the study of intellectual history, political philosophers, intellectuals, and academics in general have confronted these and other, seemingly irreconcilable contradictions, all in pursuit of a specific vision of the truth. These dichotomies are neither surprising nor new as several authors, Reinhold Niebuhr for example, have discussed many of these topics at great length. The goal was either to validate one approach over another or, as was the case of Niebuhr, to explain the roots of these dualistic visions. He did so by using classical thought as the foundations of his philosophies and bringing them into the modern world. For example, in Niebuhr’s work The Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation, he elucidates that for the Greeks, this division was between the physical and the mental. The mental dimension of life was expressed specifically in the form of reason or logos. In the first chapter of The Nature and Destiny of Man, Niebuhr established how classical thought favored the mental world over the physical.
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