ABSTRACT
This chapter considers three traditional objections to Dewey’s conception of democracy: Dewey’s conception of the self overly stresses collaborative tendencies in human beings; Dewey’s conception of democratic deliberation denies the existence of moral tragedies; and Dewey’s conception of democracy is overly idealistic. In response, this chapter argues that Deweyan democracy does not assume that there are no differences between individuals, no conflicts of interests, no situations where all options for action involve a serious moral violation, or that imbalances of power are not involved in meaningful political situations. Rather, Deweyan democracy merely assumes that these can be rendered less significant over time if we collectively engage in intelligent problem solving.
