Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780664224745ISBN:0664224741
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: Reprint.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780664224745ISBN:0664224741
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 284 p. Library of Theological Ethics. Audience: General/trade. An important early study in ethics and politics; forthright and realistic, it discusses the inevitability of social conflict, the brutal behavior of human collectives of every sort, the inability of rationalists and social scientists to even imagine the realities of collective power, and, ultimately, how individual morality can overcome social immorality. read more
Edition: 'C' on copyright page. 1932 Edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons
Date Published: 1936
Description: Very good. No dust jacket. Signed by previous owner. Slight fade to spine. Bottom spine edge slight fray. Bump to back top center edge. Moderate top edge soiling. Inside endpaper toning where glue underneath. Pencil marks: introduction. 284 p. Includes index. Red cloth-covered boards, gold titles. Classic Niebuhr. "The Art of Living Together" in Society; Rational and Religious Resources of the Individual; Ethical Attitudes og Privileged / Proletraian Classes; Justice through Revolution / ... read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Pr
Date Published: 2002-01-01
ISBN-13:9780664224745ISBN:0664224741
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780664224745. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Charles Scribner
Date Published: 1936
Description: Good. 1936 printing, clean & tight, NON-SMOKING household, ex-christian college church library book with usual features, better than typical library book. read more
Description: BRAND NEW HARDCOVER. 9 by 6 inches. This book is printed on demand [allow 1-2 weeks for printing]. (00312 pages) lang=english accessory: no accessory (Hardcover ) read more
Description: Good. Used-Good Sorry, CD missing. May contain highlighting/underlining/notes/etc. May have used stickers on cover. Ships same or next day. Expedited shipping takes 2-3 business days; standard shipping takes 4-14 business days. read more
Description: Very Good. Used-Very Good. Clean throughout. Ships same or next day. Expedited shipping takes 2-3 business days; standard shipping takes 4-14 business days. read more
"This is Niebuhr at his finest (though most dense and packed with stream-of-consciousness). Insights into human nature, society, the influences on our choices from moral, ethical, spiritual, religious, political, economic and social perspectives, etc., are plentiful. The prose is tough - and, in truth, at points, impenetrable - but ultimately the cost is worth it to access so many critical guidelines for more effective individual and collective living.
Among the incredibly abundant piercing insights are the observations that individual and collective ultimate goals are different (the former favoring unselfishness, the latter justice) so that society is not simply an aggregation of individual interests; that even moral aims may require coercion and other means that are not themselves generally considered moral; that economically-driven class interests are most often disguised in political and social processes; that the privileged tend to favor the preservation of the status quo and its attendant "peace" over the agitations of the less fortunate who have greater exposure to injustice; and that the American Negro may need to use Gandhi-like non-violent strategies in order to effectuate a change in his social, et. al., condition. (With respect to this last suggestion, remember that it was written in between the World Wars in 1932, anticipating the American Civil Rights movement - led by Gandhi devotee Martin Luther King - by a generation!?!)
Suffice it to say that the incredibly prescient observations are legion, but there are a few misguided conclusions, too. Among them are his suggestion that because socialism more closely aligns with the ultimate collective goal of justice (especially when demonstrated by providing equality of opportunity to all) it is the preferable economic system (though he does acknowledge its limitations due to difference between the theory thereof and the practical reality of what humans actually do in the attempt to bring it into being). Also, there are some sentences whose prose is so dense and obtuse that they are mystifyingly impenetrable. For example, in a section - actually a single paragraph that encompasses two and a third pages - on the topic of the religious sense of the absolute, Niebuhr shares this gem of a sentence:
"Whether the religious sublimation of the will-to-live mitigates the sharpness of the conflict between the will-to-power of individuals on the historic level, by lifting the energy of life to a higher level and beguiling the soul to seek ultimate satisfactions in a tranhistorical and supramundane world, is a difficult question to answer." After reading it over a half-dozen times, trying vainly to relate it to what precedes it and what comes after, I could only think of and paraphrase the classic 70s sitcom Different Strokes in trying to describe this sentence: "What you talking about, Neibuhr?"
Other than a few of the above head-shakers, though, this is a deep and deeply affecting and insightful book, well worth the considerable effort required to identify and digest its contibutions. I recommend it highly, but not for light reading.... :-)
Also, I will note that though he is considered one of if not the imminent American theologian of the 20th century, this is not actually a work of theology as much as one of social theory (broadly defined) and critique. As such, then, I would argue that the theologian label limits Niebuhr and the appreciation for the true scope of his contributions."
"The copy I read was actually printed in 1932 and it was amazing to think about how little "the course of human relations" has changed in the past seventy years. While he does make odd references to then-contemporary political scandals, all in all the book is a real classic."
"A difficult book but essential reading for anyone wanting to engage in the conversation about how to effect improvement in the human condition. He judges society and any corporate body to be patently incapable of making moral decisions. In light of recent events, I don't know that any American today would disagree with him. It's also nice to be reminded of a time when religious thinkers had nuanced intellectual positions. I'm sure these thinkers exist today, but the only opinions I hear from religious folks are anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage and anti-sex. This volume is from a time when religious thinkers shouldered their way up to the big table and took part in the deepest conversations about human nature and social good."
"A worthy read from the perspective of its influence, not from the perspective of pleasure (it long and difficult). Even though most people have never heard his name, it is difficult to overestimate how much impact this man's political/ethical theory has influenced American thought and policy. His basic thesis is that in spite of whatever moral achievement can be accomplished in an individual life or intimate relationships, it is impossible when it comes to human collectives/societies. The collective egotism becomes too strong to correct social injustice. He basically dismantles the notion that through education or more sophisticated social science we will become more just societies. His realism, leads to the thesis that it will be impossible to achieve justice without coercion and even violence. Whether you agree or disagree him, you have to deal with him."
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