The Logic of Kingian Nonviolence: A Synthetic Reading of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Political Thought

ABSTRACT Approaching Martin Luther King Jr. as a constructive political theorist, I present a synthetic view of his thought that is able to make cogent and compelling sense of prominent concepts and lines of reasoning in his writings. I contend that King's political thought, which is grounded i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of religious ethics Vol. 52; no. 1; pp. 26 - 49
Main Author Buck, Nicholas
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2024
Subjects
Beloved Community
Democracy
dignity
King, Martin Luther Jr (1929-1968)
Metaphysics
Morality
Nonviolence
Politics
relationality
somebodyness
Teleology
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Summary:ABSTRACT Approaching Martin Luther King Jr. as a constructive political theorist, I present a synthetic view of his thought that is able to make cogent and compelling sense of prominent concepts and lines of reasoning in his writings. I contend that King's political thought, which is grounded in his moral, metaphysical, and theological convictions, is best understood as structurally teleological and oriented to the construction of an inclusive, democratic community as its end. To make this case and fill out the picture of his view, I offer an analysis of King's “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and argue that his account of nonviolence, which provides the key to understanding his political thought, ought to be understood as operating within and on behalf of this teleological vision by patterning what I term dialogical relations between persons.
Bibliography:The author thanks Richard Miller, Derek Buyan, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the arguments here in varying stages of their development. Parts of this paper were delivered at the “Educating for Modern Democracy” conference hosted by The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College on 11/9/17.
ISSN:0384-9694
1467-9795
DOI:10.1111/jore.12449