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A Study of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Social Personalism as a Global Ethic

Hyung Kyu Lee 1

1한국외국어대학교(글로벌캠퍼스) 역사문화연구소

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ABSTRACT

The focus in this essay is Martin Luther King's social philosophy of personalism. King’s proponents state that his social personalism still presents a strong alternative vision to the global capitalist ideology– i.e., neo-liberalism. Global capitalism can be characterized as competitive and dehumanized commodity relationships. What social vision could provide the alternative to a neo-liberal system that is destroying the nature of humanity? In personalism, King built his views of a caring God and the sanctity of every person’s life, regardless of race or class. Personalism is a philosophical approach that sees persons and personality as the keys to understanding ultimate reality. King's view of human dignity was chiefly theistic, like Boston Personalism. His greatest contribution to the philosophy of personalism was his consistent application of its principles to the social problems of his day: racism, poverty, and militarism. He integrated his personalist ideals with a democratic socialist vision. King had much to say about the dignity of personhood. He knew that people should never be treated as a means, but always an end. To him, non-violence is not a tactic but a way of life. This article will provide: 1) a brief sketch of some of the key figures and ideas in Boston Personalism, focusing on social ethics, 2) some comments on what King's own social personalism - particularly his contribution to global ethics - can bring to the treatment of contemporary issues such as democratization of the global economy and participation in geo-politics, such as war and militarism.

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* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.
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