Moral Man and Immoral Society

Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics is a 1932 book by Reinhold Niebuhr, an American Protestant theologian.^[1][2] The thesis of the book is that people are more likely to sin as members of groups than as individuals.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The book attacks liberalism, both secular and religious, and is particularly critical of John Dewey^[8] and the Social Gospel.^[9]

Moral Man and Immoral Society

First edition cover
Author	Reinhold Niebuhr
Language	English
Subjects	Liberalism sin pacifism
Published	1932 (Charles Scribner's Sons)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print

Niebuhr wrote the book in a single summer.^[10] He drew the book's contents from his experiences as a pastor in Detroit, Michigan prior to his professorship at Union Theological Seminary.^[11] Moral Man and Immoral Society generated much controversy and raised Niebuhr's public profile significantly.^[12] Initial reception of the book by liberal Christian critics was negative, but its reputation soon improved as the rise of fascism throughout the 1930s was seen as having been predicted in the book.^[13] Soon after the book's publication, Paul Lehmann gave a copy to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who read it and was impressed by the book's thesis but disliked the book's critique of pacifism.^[14] The book eventually gained significant readership among American Jews because, after a period of considerable anti-theological sentiment among Jews in the United States, many Jews began to return to the study of theology and, having no Jewish works of theology to read, turned to Protestant theological works.^[15]

See also

• Groupthink

References

Notes

1. Niebuhr, Reinhold (1932). Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons – via Internet Archive.
2. Pianko 2010, p. 117.
3. Crouter 2010, p. 48.
4. Ellwood, Charles A. (1933). "Review of Moral Man and Immoral Society". American Journal of Sociology. 39 (2): 271–272. doi:10.1086/216398. ISSN 0002-9602. JSTOR 2766759.
5. Davis, Jerome (1933). "Review of Moral Man and Immoral Society". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 166: 231. doi:10.1177/000271623316600165. ISSN 0002-7162. JSTOR 1018842.
6. Ben-Horin, Meir (1962). "Review of Moral Man and Immoral Society". Jewish Social Studies. 24 (1): 57–58. ISSN 0021-6704. JSTOR 4465905.
7. Pape, L. M. (1933). "Review of Moral Man and Immoral Society". The American Political Science Review. 27 (2): 296–297. doi:10.2307/1947749. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 1947749.
8. Rice 1993, p. 17.
9. Stumme 2006, p. 100.
10. Rasmussen 1981, p. 10.
11. Gill 2006, p. 143.
12. Brown 1987, p. xv.
13. Dorrien 2003, p. 459.
14. Bethge 1999, p. 268.
15. Goldy 1990, p. 53.

Bibliography

• Bethge, Eberhard (1999). Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Fortress. ISBN 978-1-4514-0742-6.
• Brown, Robert McAfee (1987). The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-16264-6.
• Crouter, Richard (2010). Reinhold Niebuhr: On Politics, Religion, and Christian Faith. Octord: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977969-7.
• Dorrien, Gary J. (2003). The Making of American Liberal Theology: Idealism, Realism, and Modernity, 1900-1950. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox. ISBN 0664223559.
• Gill, Robin (2006). A Textbook of Christian Ethics. A & C Black. ISBN 978-0-567-03111-2.
• Goldy, Robert G. (1990). The Emergence of Jewish Theology in America. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-32601-0.
• Pianko, Noam (2010). Zionism and the Roads Not Taken: Rawidowicz, Kaplan, Kohn. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-22184-1.
• Rasmussen, Larry (1981). Reinhold Niebuhr: Theologian of Public Life. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Fortress. ISBN 978-1-4514-1282-6.
• Rice, Daniel F. (1993). Reinhold Niebuhr and John Dewey: An American Odyssey. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-1345-6.
• Stumme, Wayne (2006). The Gospel of Justification in Christ: Where Does the Church Stand Today?. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-2690-9.