The Good, the Right & the Exigencies of Life: John Dewey & the Value of Moral Disagreement Karen Bland School of Humanities/Department of Philosophy December 2018 ii Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 1 2. The Classical American Pragmatists ................................................................................................................. 14 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 14 2.2 Charles Sanders Peirce ........................................................................................................................................ 17 2.3 William James .......................................................................................................................................................... 25 2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................. 31 3. Making Connections: David Hume & John Dewey ....................................................................................... 37 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 37 3.2 Impressions & Ideas .............................................................................................................................................. 38 3.3 The Passions & Reason ........................................................................................................................................ 43 3.4 The Role of Utility in Moderating the Passions .......................................................................................... 46 3.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................. 49 4. Making Connections: Immanuel Kant & John Dewey ................................................................................ 55 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 55 4.2 The Theoretical Groundwork of Kant’s Deontic Moral Theory........................................................... 57 4.3 Respect & Moral Motivation .............................................................................................................................. 63 4.4 The Interdependence of Moral Motivation, Moral Goodness & the Kingdom of Ends .............. 67 4.5 Kant in Response to Hume ................................................................................................................................. 76 4.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................. 79 5. Making Connections: John Stuart Mill & John Dewey ................................................................................ 83 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 83 5.2 Mill’s Principle of Moral Happiness ................................................................................................................ 85 5.3 The Sanction of the Principle of Happiness ................................................................................................. 91 5.4 ‘Experiments in Living’ ........................................................................................................................................ 94 5.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................. 97 iii 6. John Dewey’s Experience .................................................................................................................................... 103 6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 103 6.2 Experience............................................................................................................................................................... 104 6.3 Habits & Perception ............................................................................................................................................ 107 6.4 Communication: Language & Meaning........................................................................................................ 113 6.5 Experience & Experiencing .............................................................................................................................. 119 6.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................... 121 7. John Dewey’s Enquiry ........................................................................................................................................... 125 7.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 125 7.2 Dewey’s Process of Social Enquiry................................................................................................................ 126 7.3 Moral Judgments & Warranted Assertability ........................................................................................... 132 7.4 Conclusion: Hume, Kant, Mill & Dewey ....................................................................................................... 137 8. Cognitivism & Non-Cognitivism ........................................................................................................................ 144 8.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 144 8.2 Moral Disagreement: the Cognitivist vs. Non-Cognitivist.................................................................... 146 8.3 Pragmatism: Morality Without Metaphysics ............................................................................................ 153 8.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................... 157 9. Monism & Pluralism .............................................................................................................................................. 160 9.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 160 9.2 Foundational Pluralism and Monism ........................................................................................................... 162 9.3 Pragmatic Pluralism & Monism ...................................................................................................................... 169 9.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................... 175 10. Pragmatic Proceduralism ................................................................................................................................. 178 10.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 178 10.2 Proceduralism ..................................................................................................................................................... 180 10.3 Thin Proceduralism .......................................................................................................................................... 185 10.4 Self and Societal Realisation ......................................................................................................................... 191 10.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................ 195 11. Three Case Studies ............................................................................................................................................... 197 iv 11.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 197 11.2 Case 1: The Westboro Baptist Church....................................................................................................... 199 11.3 Case 2: Chris Lilley’s Jonah from Tonga .................................................................................................... 205 11.4 Case 3: Murray Darling Basin ......................................................................................................................