Steven Fesmire | Green Mountain College (original) (raw)
Papers by Steven Fesmire
“Not Alone on the Third Plateau: Animals in American Pragmatism.” The Pluralist. Vol. 6, no. 3 ... more “Not Alone on the Third Plateau: Animals in American Pragmatism.” The Pluralist. Vol. 6, no. 3 (2011). With notable exceptions such as McKenna and Light’s Animal Pragmatism and the work of Paul Thompson, scholars working in the American grain have taken a back seat to utilitarian and Kantian philosophers in responding to the profound impact of human practices on other species and rising concern about animal use and treatment. Due to this relative neglect, the debate has been more anemic than it might have been. Yet despite this neglect, it is no longer possible for philosophers to simply pre-suppose that our second- order desires simply outrank the first- order needs of other animals. Despite the troublesome assumption of utilitarians and Kantians that there is a single right way to reason about morals and a single uppermost factor in moral situations, Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and others have highlighted that our prejudices toward other animals are premised on a metaphysical or ethical caste system, not ethical reflection.
“Ecological Imagination in Moral Education, East and West.” Contemporary Pragmatism, Vol. 9, no.... more “Ecological Imagination in Moral Education, East and West.” Contemporary Pragmatism, Vol. 9, no. 1 (June 2012), 205-222. Reprinted in Hugh McDonald, ed., Pragmatism and Environmentalism (New York and Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2012). Relational philosophies developed in classical American pragmatism and the Kyoto School of modern Japanese philosophy suggest aims for greater ecological responsiveness in moral education. To better guide education, we need to know how ecological perception becomes relevant to our deliberations. Our deliberations enlist imagination of a specifically ecological sort when the imaginative structures we use to understand ecosystemic relationships shape our mental simulations and rehearsals. Enriched through cross-cultural dialogue, a finely aware ecological imagination can make the deliberations of the coming generation more trustworthy.
“Ecological Imagination.” Environmental Ethics. Vol. 32, no. 2 (Summer 2010), 183-203. Environ... more “Ecological Imagination.” Environmental Ethics. Vol. 32, no. 2 (Summer 2010), 183-203. Environmental thinkers recognize that ecological thinking has a vital role to play in many wise choices and policies; yet, little theoretical attention has been given to developing an adequate philosophical psychology of the imaginative nature of such thinking. Ecological imagination is an outgrowth of our more general deliberative capacity to perceive, in light of possibilities for thinking and acting, the relationships that constitute any object. Such imagination is of a specifically ecological sort when key metaphors, images, symbols, and the like used in the ecologies shape the mental simulations we use to deliberate—i.e., when these interpretive structures shape what John Dewey calls our “dramatic rehearsals.” There is an urgent practical need to cultivate ecological imagination, and an equally practical need to make theoretical sense of the imaginative dimension of ecological reflection.
"Ethics Reconstructed" is Chapter 4 of Dewey (Routledge, 2015), Routledge Philosophers series.
"The Deweyan Ideal," which begins with an extended analysis of jazz and moral intelligence, is ch... more "The Deweyan Ideal," which begins with an extended analysis of jazz and moral intelligence, is ch. 6 of John Dewey and Moral Imagination: Pragmatism in Ethics (Indiana University Press, 2003).
Interview with Philip Ackerman-Leist, Steven Fesmire, and David Ondria by Deirdre Murphy (Culinar... more Interview with Philip Ackerman-Leist, Steven Fesmire, and David Ondria by Deirdre Murphy (Culinary Institute of America), “We Are What We Think About What We Eat: Raising the Veil that Separates Us From Our Food,” Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy, Vol. XXIII, no. 2 (2013), 117-129, 183-186.
“Educational Values: Schools as Cultures of Imagination, Growth, and Fulfillment,” Chapter 18 of ... more “Educational Values: Schools as Cultures of Imagination, Growth, and Fulfillment,” Chapter 18 of John Dewey’s Democracy and Education: A Centennial Handbook, ed. Leonard Waks and Andrea English (Cambridge University Press, May 2017).
The heart of Dewey’s call to humanize technoindustrial civilization was to conceive science and t... more The heart of Dewey’s call to humanize technoindustrial civilization was to conceive science and technology in the service of aesthetic consummations. Hence his philosophy suggests a way to reclaim and
affirm technology on behalf of living more fulfilling lives. He remains a powerful ally today in the fight against deadening efficiency, narrow means-end calculation, “frantic exploitation,” and the industrialization of
everything. Nonetheless, it is common to depict him as a philosopher we should think around rather than with. The first section of this essay explores his philosophy of technology and environment in light of Bacon,
Heidegger, and Borgmann. Most of the techno-industrial and vocational activities which we pretend are “instrumental,” Dewey argued, actually reduce “to a very minimum the esthetic aspect of experiences had in the
course of the daily occupation.” It is argued that, insofar as cooperative intelligence can guide the direction of technological development, it does not honor contemplative life if we abdicate or downgrade that
responsibility. The second section of this essay explores Dewey’s instrumentalism as a critique of vicious intellectualism. It is argued that, for Dewey, genuine progress serves the aesthetic dimension of experience. This assertion contrasts with the most common interpretive error among both critics and admirers of Dewey, namely that he is mostly a champion of science. Moreover, critics of Dewey’s instrumentalist theory of inquiry often mistake it as (a) an attack on any
conception of intrinsic value, or (b) an attempt to collapse the value of means into the value of ends. In Dewey’s view, we habitually look for progress in the wrong place because we carry around with us some big
idea of a final and ultimate good for measuring it. The ameliorative expansion of significance that emerges from our dealings with perplexing situations is the only place progress can really be found.
Educational politics in the United States is entangled in the notion that the foremost mission of... more Educational politics in the United States is entangled in the notion that the foremost mission of education is, in the infamous words of Gov. Scott Walker's proposed revision of the University of Wisconsin's mission, " to develop human resources to meet the state's workforce needs. " This general outlook is not an outlier. It is typical of those who approach education primarily as a way to fuel industry with skilled labor. This outlook is premised on an increasingly dominant educational model that is mis-educative, antidemocratic, and incompatible with values of mutual respect and individual dignity. It is helpful to analyze the industrial model of education more precisely, getting clearer about the way it informs both educational discourse and delivery, so that our critiques of ill-considered aims and priorities can be clearly and forcefully targeted.
Environmental Ethics, 2016
Review of Bryan G. Norton. Sustainable Values, Sustainable Change: A Guide to Environmental Decis... more Review of Bryan G. Norton. Sustainable Values, Sustainable Change: A Guide to Environmental Decision Making. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015. xx, 319 pages.
Implicit in Bryan Norton's corpus is a Dewey-inspired position on the public role of philosophers, we grown-ups who deliberately step back to critique the comfortable assumptions that color, shape, and prejudice our thinking. Norton's principal aim has been to inform public deliberation and advance social learning, from the way we formulate problems to the democratic procedures and heuristics we build for dealing with them. Norton's principal aim in this culminating new work is to spell out his " heuristic proceduralism " while showing that Adaptive Ecosystem Management's pluralistic model of sustainability works better for real decision making than the narrow focus on economic welfare in mainstream environmental economics. Norton’s pragmatist guide to environmental decision making offers an activism for grown-ups, practical tools and plausible hope for those with the courage and patience to secure, in John Dewey’s words, the “democratic means to achieve our democratic ends.”
“Not Alone on the Third Plateau: Animals in American Pragmatism.” The Pluralist. Vol. 6, no. 3 ... more “Not Alone on the Third Plateau: Animals in American Pragmatism.” The Pluralist. Vol. 6, no. 3 (2011). With notable exceptions such as McKenna and Light’s Animal Pragmatism and the work of Paul Thompson, scholars working in the American grain have taken a back seat to utilitarian and Kantian philosophers in responding to the profound impact of human practices on other species and rising concern about animal use and treatment. Due to this relative neglect, the debate has been more anemic than it might have been. Yet despite this neglect, it is no longer possible for philosophers to simply pre-suppose that our second- order desires simply outrank the first- order needs of other animals. Despite the troublesome assumption of utilitarians and Kantians that there is a single right way to reason about morals and a single uppermost factor in moral situations, Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and others have highlighted that our prejudices toward other animals are premised on a metaphysical or ethical caste system, not ethical reflection.
“Ecological Imagination in Moral Education, East and West.” Contemporary Pragmatism, Vol. 9, no.... more “Ecological Imagination in Moral Education, East and West.” Contemporary Pragmatism, Vol. 9, no. 1 (June 2012), 205-222. Reprinted in Hugh McDonald, ed., Pragmatism and Environmentalism (New York and Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2012). Relational philosophies developed in classical American pragmatism and the Kyoto School of modern Japanese philosophy suggest aims for greater ecological responsiveness in moral education. To better guide education, we need to know how ecological perception becomes relevant to our deliberations. Our deliberations enlist imagination of a specifically ecological sort when the imaginative structures we use to understand ecosystemic relationships shape our mental simulations and rehearsals. Enriched through cross-cultural dialogue, a finely aware ecological imagination can make the deliberations of the coming generation more trustworthy.
“Ecological Imagination.” Environmental Ethics. Vol. 32, no. 2 (Summer 2010), 183-203. Environ... more “Ecological Imagination.” Environmental Ethics. Vol. 32, no. 2 (Summer 2010), 183-203. Environmental thinkers recognize that ecological thinking has a vital role to play in many wise choices and policies; yet, little theoretical attention has been given to developing an adequate philosophical psychology of the imaginative nature of such thinking. Ecological imagination is an outgrowth of our more general deliberative capacity to perceive, in light of possibilities for thinking and acting, the relationships that constitute any object. Such imagination is of a specifically ecological sort when key metaphors, images, symbols, and the like used in the ecologies shape the mental simulations we use to deliberate—i.e., when these interpretive structures shape what John Dewey calls our “dramatic rehearsals.” There is an urgent practical need to cultivate ecological imagination, and an equally practical need to make theoretical sense of the imaginative dimension of ecological reflection.
"Ethics Reconstructed" is Chapter 4 of Dewey (Routledge, 2015), Routledge Philosophers series.
"The Deweyan Ideal," which begins with an extended analysis of jazz and moral intelligence, is ch... more "The Deweyan Ideal," which begins with an extended analysis of jazz and moral intelligence, is ch. 6 of John Dewey and Moral Imagination: Pragmatism in Ethics (Indiana University Press, 2003).
Interview with Philip Ackerman-Leist, Steven Fesmire, and David Ondria by Deirdre Murphy (Culinar... more Interview with Philip Ackerman-Leist, Steven Fesmire, and David Ondria by Deirdre Murphy (Culinary Institute of America), “We Are What We Think About What We Eat: Raising the Veil that Separates Us From Our Food,” Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy, Vol. XXIII, no. 2 (2013), 117-129, 183-186.
“Educational Values: Schools as Cultures of Imagination, Growth, and Fulfillment,” Chapter 18 of ... more “Educational Values: Schools as Cultures of Imagination, Growth, and Fulfillment,” Chapter 18 of John Dewey’s Democracy and Education: A Centennial Handbook, ed. Leonard Waks and Andrea English (Cambridge University Press, May 2017).
The heart of Dewey’s call to humanize technoindustrial civilization was to conceive science and t... more The heart of Dewey’s call to humanize technoindustrial civilization was to conceive science and technology in the service of aesthetic consummations. Hence his philosophy suggests a way to reclaim and
affirm technology on behalf of living more fulfilling lives. He remains a powerful ally today in the fight against deadening efficiency, narrow means-end calculation, “frantic exploitation,” and the industrialization of
everything. Nonetheless, it is common to depict him as a philosopher we should think around rather than with. The first section of this essay explores his philosophy of technology and environment in light of Bacon,
Heidegger, and Borgmann. Most of the techno-industrial and vocational activities which we pretend are “instrumental,” Dewey argued, actually reduce “to a very minimum the esthetic aspect of experiences had in the
course of the daily occupation.” It is argued that, insofar as cooperative intelligence can guide the direction of technological development, it does not honor contemplative life if we abdicate or downgrade that
responsibility. The second section of this essay explores Dewey’s instrumentalism as a critique of vicious intellectualism. It is argued that, for Dewey, genuine progress serves the aesthetic dimension of experience. This assertion contrasts with the most common interpretive error among both critics and admirers of Dewey, namely that he is mostly a champion of science. Moreover, critics of Dewey’s instrumentalist theory of inquiry often mistake it as (a) an attack on any
conception of intrinsic value, or (b) an attempt to collapse the value of means into the value of ends. In Dewey’s view, we habitually look for progress in the wrong place because we carry around with us some big
idea of a final and ultimate good for measuring it. The ameliorative expansion of significance that emerges from our dealings with perplexing situations is the only place progress can really be found.
Educational politics in the United States is entangled in the notion that the foremost mission of... more Educational politics in the United States is entangled in the notion that the foremost mission of education is, in the infamous words of Gov. Scott Walker's proposed revision of the University of Wisconsin's mission, " to develop human resources to meet the state's workforce needs. " This general outlook is not an outlier. It is typical of those who approach education primarily as a way to fuel industry with skilled labor. This outlook is premised on an increasingly dominant educational model that is mis-educative, antidemocratic, and incompatible with values of mutual respect and individual dignity. It is helpful to analyze the industrial model of education more precisely, getting clearer about the way it informs both educational discourse and delivery, so that our critiques of ill-considered aims and priorities can be clearly and forcefully targeted.
Environmental Ethics, 2016
Review of Bryan G. Norton. Sustainable Values, Sustainable Change: A Guide to Environmental Decis... more Review of Bryan G. Norton. Sustainable Values, Sustainable Change: A Guide to Environmental Decision Making. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015. xx, 319 pages.
Implicit in Bryan Norton's corpus is a Dewey-inspired position on the public role of philosophers, we grown-ups who deliberately step back to critique the comfortable assumptions that color, shape, and prejudice our thinking. Norton's principal aim has been to inform public deliberation and advance social learning, from the way we formulate problems to the democratic procedures and heuristics we build for dealing with them. Norton's principal aim in this culminating new work is to spell out his " heuristic proceduralism " while showing that Adaptive Ecosystem Management's pluralistic model of sustainability works better for real decision making than the narrow focus on economic welfare in mainstream environmental economics. Norton’s pragmatist guide to environmental decision making offers an activism for grown-ups, practical tools and plausible hope for those with the courage and patience to secure, in John Dewey’s words, the “democratic means to achieve our democratic ends.”