Dewey on habit, character, order and reform

pratten, stephen;

Does Dewey�s account of social reality acknowledge sufficiently its practical dimensions
or does his notion of social structure, like Veblen�s, remain ultimately ideational
or mentalistic? Many aspects of the relationship between Dewey and Veblen have
been explored previously, but this fundamental issue has been left unaddressed. In
this article I concentrate on elaborating relevant aspects of Dewey�s contribution,
such as his interpretation of habit, instinct, impulse, character, deliberation, choice,
custom and growth. His views regarding the possibilities for (and the nature of) the
intelligent reform of social institutions are also reviewed. I show that Dewey does
acknowledge a significant practical dimension to human existence but then demonstrate
that his conception of human sociality and social order ultimately remain
aligned with Veblen�s in being predominantly ideational