Is Ethics an Experimental Field? An Exploration of Dewey's Thought. - Lecture by Prof. Denis Phillips (Dept. of Education and Philosophy)

John Dewey regarded the human capacity for thought as having evolved for its survival value -- the ability to foresee consequences of our actions, to test possible solutions to problems, to profit from previous (successful and failed) attempts at problem solving, all obviously confer an evolutionary advantage. And the most effective

intellectual tool that humans have developed (apart from language) has been the experimental method of the sciences. Dewey adopted this approach in all areas of human thinking and action, including ethical/moral contexts. He opposed resolving moral problems by appeal to transcendal solutions or a priori principles inherited from the past; instead, he advocated an "experimental" approach. Is all this simply crass "scientism", or is it a viable philosophical position?