Engaging Populism: Democracy and the Intellectual Virtues

by Gregory R. Peterson (Editor), Michael C. Berhow (Editor), George Tsakiridis (Editor)

Overview

The past two decades have witnessed an intensifying rise of populist movements globally, and their impact has been felt in both more and less developed countries. Engaging Populism: Democracy and the Intellectual Virtues approaches populism from the perspective of work on the intellectual virtues, including contributions from philosophy, history, religious studies, political psychology, and law. Although recent decades have seen a significant advance in philosophical reflection on intellectual virtues and vices, less effort has been made to date to apply this work to the political realm. While every political movement suffers from various biases, contemporary populism’s association with anti-science attitudes and conspiracy theories makes it a potentially rich subject of reflection concerning the role of intellectual virtues in public life. Interdisciplinary in approach, Engaging Populism will be of interest to scholars and students in philosophy, political theory, psychology, and related fields in the humanities and social sciences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783031057878
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	08/30/2022
Edition description:	1st ed. 2022
Pages:	371
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Gregory R. Peterson is Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Director of the Ethics Lab at South Dakota State University. While Dr. Peterson’s early work focused on issues of religion and science in the philosophy of religion, his more recent work focuses on moral and political philosophy and experimental ethics. Dr. Peterson is author or coauthor of over 50 journal articles and book chapters. In addition to the monograph, Minding God, he is co-editor of Property Rights in Contemporary Governance, Habits in Mind, and the Routledge Companion to Religion and Science. Dr. Peterson has also received numerous grant and fellowship awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, and the Templeton Foundation.

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Michael C. Berhow is an Adjunct Lecturer of Philosophy at South Dakota State University. He is the author of Dysteleology: A Philosophical Assessment of Suboptimal Design in Biology (2019), and his research focuses on various topics related to religion and science, intellectual virtues, and political/social tribalism. In addition to his scholarly activity, Dr. Berhow has organized and participated in numerous lectures, forums, and panels—all of which are designed to address current events and controversies related to the intersection of science, ethics, religion, and politics.

George Tsakiridis is Senior Lecturer of Philosophy & Religion at South Dakota State University, where he is involved with the Ethics Lab. He is the author of Evagrius Ponticus and Cognitive Science: A Look at Moral Evil and the Thoughts (2010), and Seven Virtues for Success (2021). His published research also focuses on the topic of guilt and forgiveness. Dr. Tsakiridis recently edited the volume Theology and Spider-Man (2021), and he is currently working on several projects related to popular culture. He holds a PhD in Religion and Science/Theology from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Gregory R. Peterson, Michael Berhow, and George Tsakiridis

Part I: Putting Populism in Context

Chapter 1: Using Political Psychology to Understand Populism, Intellectual Virtues, and Declining Support for Democratic Norms
Ingrid J. Haas

Chapter 2: Midcentury Populists & the Intellectual Virtues
Jeff Bloodworth

Chapter 3: Populism, Evangelicalism, and Technology: A Familiar Trinitarian Formula
George Tsakiridis

Part II: Populism and Intellectual Virtues: Philosophical Approaches
Chapter 4: Populism, Expertise, and Intellectual Autonomy
Alan Hazlett

Chapter 5: Truthfulness as a Democratic Virtue
Chase Wrenn

Chapter 6: E Pluribus Unum? Empathy as an Antidote to Populism’s Antipluralism
Sara Shady

Chapter 7: Populism and the Virtues of Argument
Andrew Aberdein

Chapter 8: Epistemic Charity in Times of Populist Polarization
Michael Berhow

Part III: Populism and Intellectual Virtues Across Disciplines

Chapter 9: An Epistemology for Listening across Cultural and Political Divides
David Vishanoff

Chapter 10: Certain Simple Stories
Sherman Clark

Chapter 11: Virtuous Autonomy and its Explanatory Role in Turkish Activism
Gregory R. Peterson, Michael L. Spezio, Güneş Sevinç

Chapter 12: The People, the Experts, and the Citizens: Cognitive and Recognitive Attitudes in Democratic Practice
Adam Smith

Part IV: The Big Picture: Virtues, Populism, and Epistemic Environments

Chapter 13: Justifying Humanitarian Interference for Epistemic Threats
Coleen Watson

Chapter 14: Intellectual Virtues, Epistemic Democracy, and the Wisdom of the Crowd
Gregory Peterson

Chapter 15: Pandemic Postscript: Populism and Intellectual Virtues After COVID-19
Gregory Peterson, George Tsakiridis, and Michael Berhow

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Though populism has been with us for quite some time, it has recently undergone a resurgence. The same can be said of phenomena not typically associated with populism, namely, intellectual virtues. This innovative volume links the two with sixteen ground-breaking essays that explore different aspects of populism in relation to a variety of intellectual virtues. Featuring different disciplinary and historical perspectives, this volume enhances our understanding of the epistemic and political complexities of populism as well as roles that intellectual virtues can play in ameliorating different kinds of divisions and contemporary polarizations. I recommend it to anyone seeking greater insights into such pivotal topics as populism, democracy, polarization, and intellectual virtue.”
-Nancy Snow, University of Oklahoma