Politics is a Task
August 7, 2012 Leave a comment
In this lecture given during our last presidential election, Robin Lovin (Cary M. Maguire University Professor of Ethics) defends politics as a task, rather than as a tool or a temptation. He insists, in good Niebuhrian fashion, that politics isn’t about ultimate ends and, thus, is not so grand to (necessarily) be a temptation. Nor is politics a mere tool to be used in achieving ultimate ends. Rather, it is a shared human task and responsibility to address specific issues and problems common to human communities. This message is especially important in an increasingly polarized world in which candidates run to demonstrate their “faithfulness” to certain party platforms that appeal to a minority “base” rather than to demonstrate their ability to address complex problems in pragmatic, rather than ideologically pure, ways. Watch the lecture below:
