Comments on: The Niebuhr connection: Obama’s deep pragmatism http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2009/06/18/the-niebuhr-connection-obamas-deep-pragmatism/ Secularism, religion, and the public sphere Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:44:04 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Mitchell Aboulafia http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2009/06/18/the-niebuhr-connection-obamas-deep-pragmatism/comment-page-1/#comment-6456 Mitchell Aboulafia Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:22:08 +0000 http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/?p=1877#comment-6456 I have no doubt that Obama enjoys reading Niebuhr and has found his work to be rewarding. But what is surprising about this piece is how little it has to say about the philosophical tradition of American Pragmatism. There is a good argument to be made that Obama is indebted to this tradition, which is not to say that he hasn't also been influenced by the Social Gospel Movement. Figures such as Jane Addams were clearly influenced by both. Your readers may be interested to learn that there is a web site currently dedicated to addressing <a href="http://www.obamaspragmatism.info/" rel="nofollow">Obama's connection to pragmatism</a>. I have several pieces on the topic that might be of interest, including,<a href="http://msa4.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/“obama’s-pragmatism-or-move-over-culture-wars-hello-political-philosophy”/" rel="nofollow"> “Obama’s Pragmatism (or Move over Culture Wars, Hello Political Philosophy)</a>.” I have no doubt that Obama enjoys reading Niebuhr and has found his work to be rewarding. But what is surprising about this piece is how little it has to say about the philosophical tradition of American Pragmatism. There is a good argument to be made that Obama is indebted to this tradition, which is not to say that he hasn’t also been influenced by the Social Gospel Movement. Figures such as Jane Addams were clearly influenced by both.

Your readers may be interested to learn that there is a web site currently dedicated to addressing Obama’s connection to pragmatism.

I have several pieces on the topic that might be of interest, including,
“Obama’s Pragmatism (or Move over Culture Wars, Hello Political Philosophy).”

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