Ethics (Paperback)

ETHICS REVISED EDITION BY JOHN DEWEY EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND JAMES H. TUFTS EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1908, 1932 BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY, INC. COPYRIGHT, 1936, BY JOHN DEWEY AND JAMES H. TUFTS March, ip5p 21820-0212 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA PREFACE TO THE 1932 EDITION IT is a fair question whether to call this edition of 1932 a revision or a new book. The basic plan remains the same perspective and setting have changed. About two-thirds of the present edition has been newly written, and frequent changes in detail will be found in the remainder. The twenty-four years since 1908 have seen a great in crease of interest in the field of ethics. At the time of publication of the original edition few in America were writing on moral problems. Since then a number of texts for college and university use attests the importance of the subject in educational curricula economists, sociologists, political scien tists, and historians discuss the moral as well as the technical aspects of their subject-matter several volumes approaching moral questions from the point of view of the general reader have appeared. In a world where wars may wreck any na tional or individual life, where wealth and insecurity go hand in hand, where class still divides, and religion no longer speaks with unquestioned authority, the need of study and reflection becomes increasingly evident. It is equally evident that if the authors were to arrogate the decision of difficult questions they would thereby defeat the purpose of ethical study. The aim in this, as in the earlier edition, is to induce ahabit of thoughtful consideration, of envisaging the full meaning and consequences of individual conduct and social policies, and to aid the student with tools and method. As tools, the processes in which morals took form, and certain of the notable conceptions by which the moral consciousness has been interpreted. As method, the open mind toward new values as well as toward those tested by experience, and persistent effort to pursue analysis and Iv PREFACE TO THE 1932 EDITION inquiry until underlying principles or assumptions are reached and examined. As regards details, changes in Part I will be found in Chap ters I, III, and VI. A new chapter on the Roman contribution has been added, and the chapter on the Modern Period has been almost entirely rewritten. Part II has been recast the method of presentation has been changed and the material practically all rewritten. Part III with the exception of pages 489-495 is new. It is a pleasure to acknowledge suggestions from many col leagues who used the earlier edition. Among these, the late Professors G. H. Mead and Addison W. Moore, Professors Aikens, Ames, Burtt, Fite, Piatt, Sharp, Smith, and W. EL Wright. For experience in both sides of questions in industry the author of the economic chapters is grateful to the firms engaged in the mens clothing industry in Chicago, particu larly to the firm of Hart, S chaff ner, and Marx as represented by Dr. E. D. Howard, and to the Amalgamated Clothing Workers as represented by their president, Mr. Sidney Hill man, and the Chicago manager, Mr. Levin. And finally for suggestions as to both style and substance and for generous help in proof reading to Dr. M. C. Tufts. J. D. J. H. T. March, 1932 PREFACETO THE FIRST EDITION THE significance of this text in Ethics lies in its effort to iwaken a vital conviction of the genuine reality of moral problems and the value of reflective thought in dealing with them. To this purpose are subordinated the presentation in Part I of historic material the discussion in Part II of the different types of theoretical interpretation, and the con sideration, in Part III, of some typical social and economic problems which characterize the present...