Reinhold Niebuhr on Politics: His Political Philosophy and Its Application to Our Age as Expressed in His Writings - Paperback

by Harry R. Davis (Editor), Robert C. Good (Editor)

William Temple, late Archbishop of Canterbury, on meeting Reinhold Niebuhr for the first time, commented, At last I've met the troubler of my peace. Of him John Baillie, the distinguished theologian, also remarked, Intellectually, Niebuhr is head and shoulders, he is legs and ankles above any other American. The full range of Niebuhr's political thought -- in his own writing -- is here made available in one convenient volume. Using materials from sixteen of his books and some one hundred and seventy of his articles, the editors, Harry R. Davis and Robert C. Good, have brilliantly succeeded in linking together the various selections so that they form a logical whole. The volume begins with Niebuhr's examination of the contemporary crisis and his analysis of the false solutions offered by the liberal creed and by communist doctrine. The ground thus cleared, Niebuhr erects his own system of political thought. In the final section of the book, Niebuhr deals with problems of the day in the light of his central beliefs and insights. As an advisory committee the editors enjoyed the assistance of Charles Burton Marshall (Washington Center of Foreign Policy Research), Hans J. Morgenthau (Chicago), E. E. Schattschneider Jr. (Harvard), and Arnold Wolfers (Washington Center of Foreign Policy Research). Niebuhr himself read and approved the contents.

Author Biography

Harry R. Davis is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Beloit College.

Robert C. Good was former president of Denison University in Granville, Ohio.