IDIHCS   22126
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES EN HUMANIDADES Y CIENCIAS SOCIALES
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Basic human needs as values: exploring John Dewey's normative perspective on social philosophy
Autor/es:
LIVIO MATTAROLLO
Revista:
Cognitio: Revista de Filosofia
Editorial:
PUC Sao Paulo
Referencias:
Lugar: Sao PAulo; Año: 2019 vol. 19 p. 282 - 295
ISSN:
2316-5278
Resumen:
John Dewey´s project on social philosophy has not been usuallyconsidered as an important piece of his thought. However, his writings aboutsuch topic constitute a remarkable effort to articulate several novel conceptsand ideas which cannot be found elsewhere in his extensive philosophicalwork. Within this context, the new edition of his ?Lectures in Social andPolitical Philosophy??a series of lectures Dewey delivered during his stayin China?provides unique material for reviewing his social viewpoint.During this article I aim to explore Dewey?s normative perspective on socialphilosophy. Taking into account that the pragmatist introduces a ?normativepicture? and that he identifies a set of basic human needs at its very basis,the main arising question is how to interpret that set of human needs so asto fully understand that normative criterion. As hypotheses, I consider (i) thatsocial philosophy is mainly engaged with practical judgments and (ii) that it isplausible to interpret these basic human needs as values. In order to supportthese claims, I firstly reconstruct Dewey?s proposal about a third type ofsocial thought. Secondly, I examine his position about values and standards.Thirdly, I analyze his ?normative picture? and I consider the ?anthropologicalreading? presented by Roberto Frega (2015). Lastly, I offer a complementaryanalysis, arguing that it is possible to explain Dewey?s normative standard in acoherent way with respect to the aims of his social thought and, furthermore,that it is possible to avoid any essentialist commitment.