Schaub, Edward - Dewey's Interpretation of Religion

05/01/2009

The Philosophy of John Dewey, Ch 13, Schilpp ed., 1951

This is a general review of Dewey's work on religion and also of the work of his students and followers; the conclusion is that they are more extreme than Dewey was. Author first tries to give a state-of-religion overview and then takes some time to develop the concept of religion as a human activity whose explanation should be 'less impersonal than the standpoint of functionalism and instrumentalism'(pg400-1).

Dewey's early exposition against religion as having a monopoly over the spiritual led many of his followers to take a decidedly anti-religion stance (pg401-4), yet author claims many were confused about whether it was naively naturalistic or fulfilling some specific practical human need.(pg401) The author concludes here that instrumentalism was inadequate to give an account of religion.(pg404)

In part III, author reviews the most sustained work Dewey did on religion in A Common Faith. Author claims that Dewey did not seriously attempt to work religion through the instrumentalist/utilitarian psychology that he had created, nor did he wish to critically engage with modern-day religious theology (pg406-7). Instead his major target is 'supernaturalism', a belief system author thinks is a strawman or at least very outdated. (pg407) Moreover, author claims Dewey levels an a priori argument against a kind-of remote supernaturalism, god(s) in another world apart from the natural one that we all live in. This doesn't account for the varieties of different religious beliefs that contradict that a priori analysis (pg409). Author then reviews Dewey's account of a religious outlook as opposed to 'a religion' (pg411-13) and specifically pinpoints the argument that the seat of religious attitudes is an imaginative ideal. Author argues that Dewey hasn't established that we can be sufficiently motivated by an ideal if we don't take it to be metaphysically active in the world (pg414-416). The argument offered by the author is that the terrifyingly finite, mortal aspects of humans have been the primary motivations for the establishing of religion, but these are metaphysical aspects of living in 'Nature'-- hence a metaphysical 'Reality' that is the proper seat of religious ideals.

Dewey Replies to Schaub in Experience, Knowledge and Value; he mostly argues that his earlier work that was quoted was taken out of context: it was a discussion that religion should not be taught in public schools, not a discussion on the general problems of religion.