The Ethics of Democracy by John Dewey - Essay Example

? Ethics of Democracy by John Dewey: A Critical Review of His Essay Having a government is really needed in running a nation as it is the group primarily responsible for the welfare of the society it belongs. It drives the country towards certain growth and development by setting goals and working upon them. Different countries have different ways of choosing their leaders as the spearhead of the government. They are supported then by civil workers in the government or better known as government employees. It would help to understand the concept of government. Understanding also the types of government that emerge throughout history would help in appreciating the importance of the government. A government is made up of people who help the citizens every day. The people are part of teams who work hard in the community for the welfare of many. A government may run a town, a school and a country as it decides for the people it leads (Bedesky 4). Basically a government is not just the group spearheading the direction of a country because it may exist in smaller groups that lead the people like cities or even school organizations and companies. There are several forms of government: republic, democracy, monarchy, aristocracy, dictatorship, and democratic republic. Republic is like democracy but it exists in many people and the political system allows the citizens to elect the representatives for their government. On the other hand, democracy is similar to republic but the focus is on the rule by the people. It means that the power of the government officials is granted by the citizens. Monarchy differs from both republic and democracy since the political power is vested upon the king or queen. In other places as shown by the history, monarchy may have an emperor instead of a queen or king. Normally the royal family has the wealth and total control over the land and people have less say regarding the politics of their place. Today monarchy does not exist as part of politics. Aristocracy is somewhat related to monarchy because the members of the royal family are wealthy and educated. Aristocracy is a more general type since it does not need to have a royal family as long as the land is dominated politically by the wealthy families. Dictatorship is somewhat like aristocracy wherein few people are dominating the government but in dictatorship, harshness is involved and the dominant figure can just be a single person. Some of the prominent dictators in history are Castro of Cuba and Hitler of Germany. Last in the list of the common forms of government is the democratic republic. Typically people may say that it is democracy and republic combined, but in reality it is a form of dictatorship as North Vietnam called itself as The Democratic Republic of Vietnam and China as The People’s Republic of China (The Global Citizen). In the study, the essay of John Dewey regarding ethics and democracy would be tackled thoroughly. Since the concept of government had been laid down, it would be great to also give some introduction and basic information regarding the concept of ethics. Later on democracy would be discussed in detail and a brief biography of John Dewey would also be included to connect his experiences and works to his specific view regarding democracy. The concept of ethics is almost synonymous to morality as some people use them interchangeably. The origin of the word ethics can be traced back from the Greek word ethickos which means habit or ethos which describes a pattern of behavior. On the other hand, morality comes from the Latin word morales which mean social norms. The concepts of morality and ethics can be misleading as they are more than just patterns of behaviors and norms. Ethics can be separated into several divisions: meta-ethics, normative ethics and practical ethics. Meta-ethics is about the things associated with the terms right, good and virtue. The major purpose of meta-ethics is to analyze an ethical system. Normative ethics as its name shows it is about norms or standards guides for proper actions and behavior. Practical ethics is then concerned with the questions that come out from ethics in specific situations and topics like bioethics, medical ethics, nursing ethics and psychological ethics (Kerridge, Lowe and McPhee 1). Ethics is very much important as it becomes the basis of the actions taken and separates the right from wrong. Another way to view ethics is that “is a form of rational inquiry that aims at a principled account of how” people should “act and lead” in daily living (Johnson and Reath 2). Ethics should be logical and it is a form of verifying actions or frameworks of conduct whether they are morally right or wrong. The arguments to verify the actions are well-supported by rational reasons. To further strengthen the understanding of the concept of ethics, it would be great to identify what ethics is not. Ethics is not the following: professional codes of ethics, professional etiquette, hospital policy, religion, law, gut-feeling, and public opinion (Kerridge, Lowe and McPhee 2-6). Professional code of ethics is the set of norms that a certain specialized professionals should follow. On the other hand, professional etiquette is the set of behaviors that all professionals must act in order to look proper and maintain the respect and courtesy as they practice their career. Hospital policy is the prevailing rule in hospitals and healthcare which is not ethics itself. Religion is the tradition set upon the concept of Supreme Being that teaches the norms and proper conduct in everyday lives. Law is the political rules set down upon a country for the citizens to conform or else they would be punished for violating the law. Gut-feeling is more of an intuition and instinct which is out of the realm of rational thinking. Public opinion is the general suggestions or ideas of people which cannot be said to be facts. All of them do not pertain to ethics but somehow they are very much related. In particular, ethics is not very specific as it does not have any substantive form and cuts across various disciplines. In short, it is best described to be a space that is a place of turbulence and shows the things that can be sacrificed like values, behavior and relationships (Kerridge, Lowe and McPhee 6). Ethics is important and it is very old as history shows. Since it can serve as a guideline in decision-making, it also important in politics and government. In line with the government concept, the next focus is on democracy. Democracy in simple terms is the government by the people, but it poses several problems. The concept of democracy can be perfect theoretically but in reality it still cannot cater all people as no government system can provide freely for all. Certain restrictions still exist in terms of age, gender, social status and even education. It is actually rational to have certain restrictions as perhaps it would not bring any good if for example children are allowed to vote for the elections of national leaders (Pickles 3). The basic definition of democracy seems to be a good idea as all members of a nation are allowed to voice out their ideas and opinions. They are part of the decision-making process for the betterment of their country, but certain limitations are still imposed not to restrict and violate the rights of people but for the betterment of the majority. The same purpose was in the minds of the Greeks when they conceptualized democracy. The ancient Greeks started the collective decision-making and brought it to the next level to become a form of government. They used the words demos which means people and krates which means rule that later on formed the word democracy which means the government by the people. In democracy, the sovereign or highest authority is the people of the nation themselves. The form of government gives the people the freedom to decide on how they are to be governed unlike other government systems wherein the citizens have less control with the government (Woolf 4). Since there is no perfect system, democracy has also been subjected to several controversies, but it is still one of the widely-used form of government by many countries that people enjoy. One of the people who tackled the concept of democracy thoroughly is John Dewey as he analyzed the ethics in that form of government. Before the analysis of his work, a brief biography would lay down the connection with his works and commentary on democracy. The author of the essay entitled The Ethics of Democracy is John Dewey. He was born in Vermont. He performed well during his school years and even graduated second at the University of Vermont. He worked well as a teacher for several schools and even studied philosophy. When he worked at the University of Chicago, social problems captured his attention through the influence of Henry George, a radical writer. Later on he established friendships with socials reformers. He was also influenced by the works of Karl Marx and other philosophers of the same field as Marx. After World War I he studied again but it was about education. He conducted various researches on several countries including Turkey and Soviet Union. Due to his works, he got criticized many times by prominent people like Leon Trotsky who pointed out that the ideas made by Dewey. Dewey then stressed the importance of education in honing and improving the society and specified the importance of experience as part of learning. He explained that experience would give the children the knowledge, skills and attitude they need. He was part of several activist groups and later on focused on writing when he retired from teaching (Simkin). His background greatly influenced his works especially The Ethics of Democracy as he gave commentaries on the existence of that political system. In general, The Ethics of Democracy had been presented in an easy-to-understand approach and pushed three main arguments against democracy as a form of government: The first is the belief that democracy is a numerical aggregate as the rule of the Many, i.e. the Masses or the Mob. The second regards the essential nature of Social Contract Theory and its application in civil societies. The third is that democracy embodies and fosters abstraction of non-social individuals in creating a social and political system (Micheletti 1). Dewey pointed out that allowing the government system to be ruled by many can be problematic since the many may pertain to masses or the mob. Perhaps if many of the people are not well-educated or may have some hidden destructive agenda, they may take over the government and such behaviors may greatly affect the system and later on it may lead to the collapse of the nation. The second argument revolves around the concept of Social Contract Theory as “morality consists in the set of rules governing behavior, that rational people would accept, on the condition that others accept them as well,” (Gaskill). The third argument points out that democracy allow individuals with no prior expertise on politics to decide and affect the direction of the nation. Also Dewey pointed out the individual and the society, the existence of majority wins and the importance of political deliberation. He showed his anti-elitist belief regarding political systems. He showed the vision of the moral of democracy to be unsettled as revision can be continually done (Rogers 69-70). Works Cited Bedesky, Baron. What is a Government? New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2009. Gaskill, Dan. “Social Contract Theory.” California State University Sacramento. n.d. 20 Nov. 2011 . Johnson, Oliver and Andrews Reath. Ethics: Selections from Classic and Contemporary Writers 11th ed. USA: Wadsworth, 2007. Kerridge, Ian, Michael Lowe and John McPhee. Ethics and Law for the Health Professions 2nd ed. Australia: The Federation Press, 2005. Micheletti, Gabrielle. “John Dewey and The Ethics of Democracy.” Student Pulse. 7 Dec. 2010. 20 Nov. 2011 . Pickles, Dorothy. Democracy. Great Britain: Wilmer Brothers Ltd., 1971. Rogers, Melvin. “Dewey and His Vision of Democracy.” Contemporary Pragmatism. June 2010: 69-91. Simkin, John. “John Dewey.” Spartacus Educational. n.d. 20 Nov. 2011 The Global Citizen. “Types of Governments.” Alverno College. n.d. 20 Nov. 2011 Woolf, Alex. Systems of Government: Democracy. London: Evans Brothers Ltd., 2005. Read More