Human Nature and Conduct - Part 3, The Place of Intelligence In Conduct

John Dewey

Read by William Allan Jones

(2.7 stars; 3 reviews)

John Dewey, an early 20th Century American philosopher, psychologist, educational theorist, saw Social Psychology as much a physical science (with rules and predictive power) as Biology and Chemistry. This project encompasses Part 3 of 4 of his book Human Nature and Conduct. An Introduction to Social Psychology, published in 1922.
Dewey's uses the words "HABIT" and "Impulse" as a specialized catch-all words to describe how a person and his/her objective environment interact. This interaction is the basis for moral and ethical judgments. Dewey writes: "All habits are demands for certain kinds of activity; and they constitute the self.” In other places he also asserts that "Habits are Will." In this third part of the book, Dewey describes how we make ethical judgments (Dramatic Rehearsal), the occasions which call upon the exercise of intelligence, and the relationship among aims, goals, means and ends, and emotions. ~ Summary by William Allan Jones, Soloist (3 hr 52 min)