Abstract

A perennial question for the reflective person is: how should I conduct my life? In examining John Dewey's theories of intelligence and the good I argue that Dewey, unlike some existentialists and analytic philosophers, gives an objectivist answer to this question. After completing a survey of some of the important secondary literature in the introduction, in the first chapter I briefly examine three conceptions of Dewey's moral theory: experience, nature and value. Dewey's theory of experience involves a type of realism. His theory of nature is Heraclitean. Finally, he holds that values have a foundation in nature. ;In the first section of chapter two I examine Dewey's theory of human nature. On the basis of this examination I argue that Dewey believes intelligence plays a central role in the pursuit of the moral life: it is the task of intelligence to direct human behavior to its proper end. In the second section in order to further specify the role of intelligence in Dewey's moral theory, I compare and contrast Dewey's account with that of the utilitarians, Kantians, emotivists, and prescriptivists. Dewey's account is unique in that, among other things, for him intelligence's task is to create solutions to the moral problems that arise in a person's life. ;In the first section of chapter three I argue that, notwithstanding his repudiation of fixed ends, Dewey does maintain human behavior does have a final end. For Dewey, this end is growth, and which is an inclusive, second-order end . In the second section of this chapter, I hold that for Dewey human growth is best attained in a community which is democratically structured. ;In the conclusion I examine Dewey's theory in the light of his own criterion of a successful theory: does it make life more meaningful? One criticism of Dewey's moral theory is that it is ambiguous; consequently, it can be used to justify moral atrocities such as Nazism. I argue that this criticism does not apply to Dewey's moral theory as I have interpreted it. However, I find Dewey's theory lacking insofar as he fails to take into account the weakness of human beings' will