Lincoln'S Tragic Pragmatism: Lincoln, Douglas, And Moral Conflict

A New York Times Book Review EditorsÆ Choice In 1858, challenger Abraham Lincoln debated incumbent Stephen Douglas seven times in the race for a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. More was at stake than slavery in those debates. In LincolnÆs Tragic Pragmatism, John Burt contends that the very legitimacy of democratic governance was on the line. In a United States stubbornly divided over ethical issues, the overarching question posed by the Lincoln-Douglas debates has not lost its urgency: Can a liberal political system be used to mediate moral disputes? And if it cannot, is violence inevitable? ôJohn Burt has written a work that every serious student of Lincoln will have to read...Burt refracts Lincoln through the philosophy of Kant, Rawls and contemporary liberal political theory. His is very much a Lincoln for our time.ö ùSteven B. Smith, New York Times Book Review ôI'm making space on my overstuffed shelves for LincolnÆs Tragic Pragmatism. This is a book I expect to be picking up and thumbing through for years to come.ö ùJim Cullen, History News Network ôBurt treats the [Lincoln-Douglas] debates as being far more significant than an election contest between two candidates. The debates represent profound statements of political philosophy and speak to the continuing challenges the U.S. faces in resolving divisive moral conflicts.ö ùE. C. Sands, Choice

• | Author: John Burt
• | Publisher: Belknap Press: An Imprint Of Harvard University Press
• | Publication Date: Jul 09, 2018
• | Number of Pages: 832 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback/History
• | ISBN-10: 0674983998
• | ISBN-13: 9780674983991