Outlines of a Critical Theory of EthicsDewey, John
Philosophy
Outlines of a Critical Theory of Ethics
Dewey, John
Ethics
3. _Baseness._ For, when we say that bad action takes account of
ideals only on the basis of possession, we say, in effect, that
it takes account only of _sensible_ satisfaction. As it is in the
progressive movement of morality that there arises the distinction of
the law-abiding and the lawless self, of the social and the selfish
self, so in the same aspect there comes into existence the distinction
of the low, degraded, sensual self, as against the higher or spiritual
self. In themselves, or naturally, there is no desire high, none low.
But when an inclination for an end which consists in possession comes
into conflict with one which includes an active satisfaction--one not
previously enjoyed--the contrast arises. It is wrong to say, with Kant,
that the bad act is simply for pleasure; for the bad act, the choice
of a past satisfaction as against the aspiration for a wider good,
may have a large content--it may be the good of one's family; it may
be scientific or æsthetic culture. Yet the moment a man begins to live
on the plane of past satisfaction as such, he has begun to live on the
plane of 'sense', or for pleasure. The refusal to recognize the ideal
good, to acknowledge activity as good, throws the agent back into a
life of dwelling upon his own sensible good, and thus he falls more and
more into a life of dwelling upon mere sensations. What made the past
good a good at all was the spirit, the activity, in it, and when it is
no longer an activity, but a mere keeping, the life is gone out of it.
The selfish life must degenerate into mere sensuality--although when
sensuality is 'refined' we call it sentimentality.
4. _Demoralization._ Morality is activity; exercise of function.
To cease this activity is not to remain on the attained level, for
that, _when attained_, was active. It is to relapse, to slip down
into badness. The moral end is always an activity. To fail in this
activity is, therefore, to involve character in disintegration. It can
be kept together only by constant organizing activity; only by acting
upon new wants and moving toward new situations. Let this activity
cease, and disorganization ensues, as surely as the body decays when
life goes, instead of simply remaining inert as it was. Bad conduct
is thus _unprincipled_; it has no center, no movement. The good man
is 'organic'; he uses his attainments to discover new needs, and to
assimilate new material. He lives from within outwards, his character
is compact, coherent; he has _integrity_. The bad man, having no
controlling unity, has no consistent line of action; his motives of
conduct contradict one another; he follows this maxim in relation to
this person, that in relation to another; character is _demoralized_.
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