Toward a Niebuhrian Ethics of Democracy

Abstract

This article proposes certain elements of an ethics of democracy based on the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr. It contends that Niebuhr's concept of democracy must be interpreted in light of his anthropology, and argues that his anthropology provides a broader and more suggestive basis for a contemporary democratic ethics than do his mid-century writings on democracy. The article identifies certain values as foundational for duties of a democratic ethics. These values ground three principal duties of a democratic ethics: a duty of civility, of deliberation, and of tolerance. The duties are derived from fundamental characteristics of human selfhood as Niebuhr conceived it, but they are elaborated here in ways more adequate to the contemporary situation.