John Dewey and Moral Imagination: Pragmatism in Ethics [Paperback]

Steven Fesmire (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2003

While examining the important role of imagination in making moral judgments, John Dewey and Moral Imagination focuses new attention on the relationship between American pragmatism and ethics. Steven Fesmire takes up threads of Dewey's thought that have been largely unexplored and elaborates pragmatism's distinctive contribution to understandings of moral experience, inquiry, and judgment. Building on two Deweyan notions—that moral character, belief, and reasoning are part of a social and historical context and that moral deliberation is an imaginative, dramatic rehearsal of possibilities—Fesmire shows that moral imagination can be conceived as a process of aesthetic perception and artistic creativity. Fesmire's original readings of Dewey shed new light on the imaginative process, human emotional make-up and expression, and the nature of moral judgment. This original book presents a robust and distinctly pragmatic approach to ethics, politics, moral education, and moral conduct.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...provides a rich reading of the ethical implications of philosophical pragmatism... Highly recommended."—Choice -- Choice --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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While examining the important role of imagination in moral deliberation, John Dewey and Moral Imagination focuses new attention on the relationship between American pragmatism and ethics. Here, Steven Fesmire takes up threads of Dewey's thought that have been largely unexplored and elaborates pragmatism's distinctive contribution to understandings of moral experience, inquiry, and judgment. Building on two Deweyan notions--that moral character, belief, and reasoning are socially and historically contextualized and that moral deliberation is an imaginative, dramatic rehearsal of possibilities--Fesmire shows that moral imagination can be conceived as a process of aesthetic perception and artistic creativity. Fesmire's readings of Dewey shed new light on the imaginative process, human emotional makeup and expression, and the nature of moral judgment. This original book presents a robust and distinctly pragmatic approach to ethics, politics, moral education, and moral conduct.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (September 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253215986
• ISBN-13: 978-0253215987
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Connecting morality w/ imagination, emotion, and creativity, October 8, 2003

By 

David Hildebrand "hildephilosopher" (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Dewey and Moral Imagination: Pragmatism in Ethics (Paperback)

The Big Question, as any novice taking Ethics 101 knows, is "How ought one live?" But unless one thinks about what a moral experience is, or how we make sense of it, one cannot adequately answer that question. And while ethical principles are an indispensable part of ethical decision making, they are too often taken as much more than a part-i.e., as wholly sufficient. This imbalanced view usually leads to inflexibility and dogmatism. What we need instead, Fesmire says, is understand how imagination is integral to the way we actually make concrete choices in lived situations. And Fesmire does just that: by delving into the ways our social and historical connections help form our character and our beliefs; by showing that when we deliberate about a choice, we do so in a way that is imaginative and dramatic; and by showing how we can reconceive of moral conduct by interpreting it along more aesthetic and artistic lines.

This is an excellent book, both scholarly and readable. The book's mechanics are beautifully done, and there's a thorough bibliography and index. Fortunately, Fesmire is not an insular scholar, content with limning just the American tradition; he's a philosopher who has thought carefully about ethical approaches across multiple traditions and then explains where the shortfalls are-and why. His explorations of the imagination are done with care and style and they connect back to the ethical realities in which we all have to live and choose.

It's gratifying to see that the resurgent interest in pragmatist epistemology (that has accrued over the past twenty years) is finally blossoming in ethics. Along with recent books by William Caspary and Todd Lekan, Fesmire's book will help those who know pragmatism-and those who don't-to understand the resources and promises of pragmatism as equipment for living.