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MAKING SENSE OF DARWIN THROUGH LENSES OF DEWEY

Year 2018, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 1 - 9, 05.06.2018
https://doi.org/10.33817/muhakeme.401183

Abstract

One of the most important debates in moral philosophy is about sources or foundations of human moral behavior. Different moral theories give us different explanations for human moral behavior. A considerable number of such theories argue that human moral behavior can be reduced to a set of founding principles. For these traditional accounts of morality, human conduct should be examined from a strictly foundationalist perspective. However, there is another and hardly a traditional line in which human moral behavior is a necessary by-product of and should be considered in reference to socialization. John Dewey, one of the important philosophers of this second line, defines the boundaries for this anti-foundationalist side of human morality. For him, morality does not have universal rules or sources and it is not something completely different from habit or custom. Keeping all this in mind, this study aims to employ Dewey’s ethical framework and his conception of morality to understand and evaluate current discussion in moral philosophy. The view evolutionary morality in general has some problems caused by the foundationalist attitude towards morality. It can be argued that a different reading of Darwinian evolutionary morality can help us to avoid taking human moral behavior as a direct consequence of biological determination and unpersuasive results of sociobiological account. In order to achieve this; this study reconsider the notion of altruistic behavior, which is one of the frequently revisited concepts of Darwinian evolutionary morality, in communication with Dewey’s ethical framework.

References

  • Aronfreed, J. (1970). “The Socialization of Altruistic and Sympathetic Behavior: Some Theoretical and Experimental Analyses”, in Altruism and Helping Behavior: Social Psychological Studies of Some Antecedents and Consequences, (ed. Jacqueline Macaulay and Leonard Berkowitz), New York&London: Academic Press.
  • Carden, S. (2006). Virtue Ethics: Dewey and MacIntyre, London&New York: Continuum.
  • Caws, P. (1996). Ethics From Experience, London: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
  • Dancy, J. (2004). Ethics Without Principles, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Darley, J., Latane, B. (1970). “Norms and Normative Behavior: Field Studies Of Social Interdependence”, in Altruism and Helping Behavior: Social Psychological Studies of Some Antecedents and Consequences, (ed. Jacqueline Macaulay and Leonard Berkowitz), New York&London: Academic Press.
  • Darlington, P. J. (Jan., 1978). “Altruism: Its Characteristic and Evolution”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol.75, no.1.
  • Darwin, C. (1952). The Descent of Man (1871), R. M. Hutchison (ed.) in Darwin (Encyclopedia of Britannica-Great Books, vol. 49), Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
  • Dewey, J. (1957). Human Nature and Conduct; An Introduction to Social Psychology, New York: The Modern Library.
  • Dewey, J. (1960). Theory of The Moral Life, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, London: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
  • Dewey, J. (1993). “Evolution and Ethics”, in Evolutionary Ethics, (ed. Matthew H. Nitecki and Doris V. Nitecki), New York: State University of New York Press.
  • Eisenberg, N. (1982). The Development of Prosocial Behavior, (ed. Nancy Eisenberg), New York: Academic Press.
  • Ruse, M. (1982). Sociobiology: Sense or Nonsense?, London: D. Reidel Publishing Company.
  • Ruse, M. (1998) Taking Darwin Seriously; A Naturalistic Approach to Philosophy, New York: Prometheus Books.
  • Rushton, J. P. (1991). “Is Altruism Innate?”, Psychological Inquiry, vol.2, no.2.
  • Thompson, P. (September 1999). “Evolutionary Ethics: Its Origins and Contemporary Face”, Zygon, vol.34, no.3.
  • Wilson, E. O. (2000). Sociobiology The New Synthesis, London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

MAKING SENSE OF DARWIN THROUGH LENSES OF DEWEY

Year 2018, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 1 - 9, 05.06.2018
https://doi.org/10.33817/muhakeme.401183

Abstract

Ahlak felsefesi’nin en önemli tartışmalarından biri insanın ahlaki davranışının kaynağı veya temelleri hakkındadır. Farklı ahlak teorileri insanın ahlaki davranışı için farklı açıklamalar sunmaktadırlar. Bu teorilerin pek çoğu, insanın ahlaki davranışının bir takım kurucu ilkelere indirgenebileceğini iddia etmektedirler. Bu geleneksel ahlak açıklamalarına göre, insanın davranışları katı bir şekilde temelci bir bakış açısından incelenmelidir. Ancak, insanın ahlaki davranışının zorunlu bir ürün olarak insanın sosyalleşmesine göre düşünüldüğü başka bir geleneksel çizgi de vardır. Bu ikinci çizginin önemli filozoflarından John Dewey, bu temelci görüşe karşı taraftaki ahlak anlayışı için sınırlar tanımlamaktadır. Dewey için ahlak, evrensel kurallara ve kaynaklara sahip değildir ve alışkanlık ya da gelenekten tamamen farklı değildir. Bütün bunları düşünerek, bu çalışma ahlak felsefesinin bu güncel tartışmasını anlamak ve değerlendirmek amacıyla Dewey’nin ahlaki çerçevesini ve ahlak anlayışını sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Genel olarak evrimsel ahlak, ahlaka yönelik temelci tavırdan kaynaklanan bazı problemlere sahiptir. Darwinci evrimsel ahlakın farklı bir okumasının, insanın ahlaki davranışının biyolojik belirlenimin doğrudan bir sonucu olarak görülmesinden ve sosyobiyolojik yaklaşımın ikna edici olmayan sonuçlarından kaçınmamıza yardımcı olacağı iddia edilebilir. Bu amaçla, bu çalışma Darwinci evrimsel ahlakın sıkça yinelenen kavramlarından biri olan özgeci davranış nosyonunu Dewey’nin ahlaki çerçevesi ile iletişim içinde yeniden ele almaktadır.

References

  • Aronfreed, J. (1970). “The Socialization of Altruistic and Sympathetic Behavior: Some Theoretical and Experimental Analyses”, in Altruism and Helping Behavior: Social Psychological Studies of Some Antecedents and Consequences, (ed. Jacqueline Macaulay and Leonard Berkowitz), New York&London: Academic Press.
  • Carden, S. (2006). Virtue Ethics: Dewey and MacIntyre, London&New York: Continuum.
  • Caws, P. (1996). Ethics From Experience, London: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
  • Dancy, J. (2004). Ethics Without Principles, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Darley, J., Latane, B. (1970). “Norms and Normative Behavior: Field Studies Of Social Interdependence”, in Altruism and Helping Behavior: Social Psychological Studies of Some Antecedents and Consequences, (ed. Jacqueline Macaulay and Leonard Berkowitz), New York&London: Academic Press.
  • Darlington, P. J. (Jan., 1978). “Altruism: Its Characteristic and Evolution”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol.75, no.1.
  • Darwin, C. (1952). The Descent of Man (1871), R. M. Hutchison (ed.) in Darwin (Encyclopedia of Britannica-Great Books, vol. 49), Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
  • Dewey, J. (1957). Human Nature and Conduct; An Introduction to Social Psychology, New York: The Modern Library.
  • Dewey, J. (1960). Theory of The Moral Life, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, London: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
  • Dewey, J. (1993). “Evolution and Ethics”, in Evolutionary Ethics, (ed. Matthew H. Nitecki and Doris V. Nitecki), New York: State University of New York Press.
  • Eisenberg, N. (1982). The Development of Prosocial Behavior, (ed. Nancy Eisenberg), New York: Academic Press.
  • Ruse, M. (1982). Sociobiology: Sense or Nonsense?, London: D. Reidel Publishing Company.
  • Ruse, M. (1998) Taking Darwin Seriously; A Naturalistic Approach to Philosophy, New York: Prometheus Books.
  • Rushton, J. P. (1991). “Is Altruism Innate?”, Psychological Inquiry, vol.2, no.2.
  • Thompson, P. (September 1999). “Evolutionary Ethics: Its Origins and Contemporary Face”, Zygon, vol.34, no.3.
  • Wilson, E. O. (2000). Sociobiology The New Synthesis, London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
There are 16 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Aysun Aydın

Publication Date June 5, 2018
Submission Date March 3, 2018
Acceptance Date March 19, 2018
Published in Issue Year 2018 Volume: 1 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Aydın, A. (2018). MAKING SENSE OF DARWIN THROUGH LENSES OF DEWEY. Muhakeme Dergisi, 1(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.33817/muhakeme.401183

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