Moral Philosophy In Antebellum America

Moral philosophy in America began with the Puritans. This religious group was hesitant to accept the idea of morally autonomous ethics into their teachings: they went so far as to call “Ethicks” a “Vile Peece of Paganism.” Jonathan Edwards, a key thinker of the colonial era and devout Puritan, described all personal aspects of self-morality in ways which were congruent to Puritanism. Edwards and other religious moralists rejected Thomas Hobbes; they believed that all humans had a type of moral compass that allowed them to make decisions based off of their beliefs. These dogmas were the basis for American moral philosophy.
In Antebellum America, there was a shift away from the Puritan beliefs and towards the beliefs of leading philosophers John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Montesquieu who delved into

ideas about “liberty, natural law, and natural rights.” These teachings were congruent with the brewing revolution as they provided the key points in the Declaration of Independence. The primary medium for the discussion of moral philosophy in this era was in colleges. Although the courses were punctuated with the teachings of classical moral philosophers, they were essentially governed by Christian beliefs. Despite the religious tones undermining the teachings in colleges in America, the most prominent philosophers existed outside of academics: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, known as “public philosophers.” These philosophers commented on the politics and culture that embodied America and underlined the importance of conscience in moral thinking.
The Golden Era of philosophy occurred in post-Antebellum America when classical moral philosophy was applied to contemporary social issues by figures such as William James and John Dewey.

Their ideas reflected America’s vitality and gumption. William James was a prominent philosopher of ethics from the late 1800s to early 1900s. He was trained in medicine and later used his experience to debate medical ethics. He said there can be no final truth in ethics and posed three questions: what the origin of moral ideas is, the meaning of words such as “good” and “bad” and how people measure these words. His belief that there is no end in ethics is supported by his claim that new solutions to problems must be found continually as a response to new and changing societal demands. James asserts “ethical science is just like physical science, and instead of being deductible all at once from abstract principles, must simply bide its time, and be ready to revise its conclusions,”. James’ beliefs are entirely American in their liberal, religious and accepting views. His beliefs have proven to be withstanding and have become an integral part of the American

spirit.
Along with James, John Dewey was a major public philosopher during America’s Golden Age of philosophy. In one of Dewey’s most famous writings, Ethics, he defines a moral act as that which satisfies a network of social values — a solution for the comic discourse of the classical problems with moral philosophy. Dewey also acknowledges morals as a “growing science” which must be constantly amended in order to be relative in current social and political affairs. Dewey differs from James in his emphasis on the importance of scientific information in moral reasoning. However, neither created a method of approach for moral philosophy, but created a practical and pragmatic style.