Thursday, November 15, 2012
Some doubts about John Dewey as the "philosopher of the common good"
Michael Perry has linked to Charles Reid's suggestion that, in the wake of the election, we look to John Dewey -- described as the "philosopher of the common good" -- for optimism and inspiration. It seems to me that we should look elsewhere.
John Dewey's "optimism" and "egalitarianism" included -- indeed, his approach had at its heart -- a deep antipathy to religious authority and truth-claims, and indeed to any significant role for non-state mediating associations in the formation and education of persons. Dewey praised Paul Blanshard's anti-Catholic screeds, and in some ways inspired them. Charles notes, of course, that praise of Dewey needs to be "qualified," and says that he "appreciate[s] the diversity religious education offers in a world where public education might otherwise become too homogeneous." As he should, and as Dewey -- an implacable enemy of the Catholic schools -- did not.
I wonder, does Michael endorse Reid's endorsement of Dewey? Why or why not?
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2012/11/some-doubts-about-john-dewey-as-the-philosopher-of-the-common-good.html
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Since Prof. Perry closed comments on his his post, I can't ask him the question directly, but I was struck by his quote of Prof. Reid's characterization of the "ugly campaign season" by naming only "racist dog-whistles" and "class hatred (the "takers" vs. the "makers"). I wonder if Profs. Perry & Reid would think Sandra Fluke's assertion that if Gov. Romney had won "pregnant women would be allowed to die" in American emergency rooms is part of this "ugly campaign season". Furthermore, I wonder if they would characterize an ad by a SuperPAC run by a former Obama White House official linking Gov. Romney to the death of a woman by cancer five years after he left Bain Capital?
I agree with the Profs. that our country needs bipartisan solutions, but calls to bipartisan solutions cloaked in partisan tut-tutting doesn't seem very fruitful to me in advancing any cause - pro-life or otherwise.