Victor Nuovo: MLK went beyond civil rights

39th in a series Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968), MLK, did not only theorize about social ethics, he embodied it, and gave his life for it. The fundamental truth for which he gave his life is the principle of freedom and equality for all persons. It is the very principle upon which this nation was founded, although the founders applied it narrowly, taking it to be applicable only to white men, and even more narrowly to white men with property. But the force of truth cannot be denied, and over the course … (read more)

39th in a seriesMartin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968), MLK, did not only theorize about social ethics, he embodied it, and gave his life for it. The fundamental truth for which he gave his life is the principle of freedom and equality for all persons. It is … (read more)

38th in a seriesReinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) situated himself in the tradition of social ethics created by Jane Addams, as did John Dewey; his affinity with her was greater than Dewey’s, for, like Addams, he was deeply influenced by the ethical teachings … (read more)

37th in a seriesJohn Dewey (1859–1952) was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. Vermonters should take special notice, for Dewey was a native son. Born and raised in Burlington, a graduate of the University of Vermont, he died in … (read more)

36th in a series“The Sense of Beauty” is the title of a book written by George Santayana. It was his first book, published in 1896. It is a path-breaking book, and it has become a classic. This essay offers a brief exposition of it.Santayana wrote it to a … (read more)

35th in a series“How came a child born in Spain of Spanish parents to be educated in Boston and to write in the English language?” With this question, the philosopher George Santayana begins a short biographical essay. Jorge Augustín Nicolás Ruiz De Santa … (read more)

34th in a seriesThe achievement of Jane Addams can be put in one sentence. She invented Social Ethics, both practically and theoretically. Social Ethics is a theory of normative behavior, which is founded on the premise that the moral life of individuals … (read more)

33rd in a seriesHenry Adams (1838-1918) belonged to one of America’s great families. He was the great-grandson of John (1735–1826) and Abagail Adams (1744-1818). John Adams, one of the nation’s founders, served as its first vice president and its second p … (read more)

32nd in a seriesWilliam James was an American hero. He displayed boundless energy, which was more willed than natural, and he was driven by an insatiable desire for knowledge, which he pursued relentlessly in spite of chronic ill health (a weak and failin … (read more)

31st in a seriesWhat is truth? How would you answer this question? You may find it a greater challenge than at first imagined, for truth is one of those words whose meaning we are sure we know until challenged to define it. In our everyday experience we h … (read more)

30th in a seriesWilliam James (1842–1910) is surely the most celebrated of American philosophers, and, in the light of his achievement, he is justly celebrated. He is the quintessential American thinker. Although his mind may not have been as acute and as … (read more)

29th in a seriesPragmatism is a philosophical movement that originated in America shortly after the Civil War, and it is commonly supposed to be a uniquely American philosophy. Scholars describe the time of its founding as the Classical age of American ph … (read more)

28th in a seriesIn 1859 Charles Darwin published “The Origin of Species” and in 1860 the American Civil War began. These two events had a profound effect on the life and mind of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841–1935). An ardent Abolitionist deeply committe … (read more)

27th essay in a seriesI suspect that almost everyone who reads this essay will be unfamiliar with Margaret Fuller (1810–50). Her name does not ring a bell in our minds as do the names of Ralph Waldo Emerson or Henry David Thoreau, her contemporaries, or F … (read more)

Editor’s note: After a short pause, this series picks up today with the 26th essay.Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) was a poet, a naturalist, and a philosopher endowed with an acute moral sensibility. He was familiar with the Socratic dictum, “The unexamined … (read more)