The chapters in Part III explore contemporary ethical issues inspired by the framework Dewey offers in Human Nature and Conduct. Dewey’s framework is an alternative to the dominant paradigm for investigating concrete moral problems known as “applied” ethics. The final two chapters connect Dewey’s ethics and moral psychology in Human Nature and Conduct to current issues in the renewal of religion.

This introduction provides a historical and conceptual context for Dewey’s approach to moral problems, tracing the rise of applied ethics as a field and explaining why Dewey’s model of moral inquiry, despite its practical orientation, has been largely absent from its development. It also shows how a Deweyan approach to ethical problems is not merely an alternative to applied ethics but a fundamental rethinking of how concrete problem-focused ethical inquiry should be conducted.

Abstract: In this chapter, Waks examines John Dewey’s concept of growth in Human Nature and Conduct (1922) and its relation to the good. Growth, for Dewey, is not biological or economic but an evolving moral and intellectual responsiveness to changing circumstances. Dewey defines morality as the “growth of conduct in meaning,” linking ethical life to an expanding awareness of action’s conditions and consequences. As Waks shows, Dewey argues that meaning develops through experience as habits are reconstructed in response to feedback. Conduct, unlike mere behavior, involves conscious ends-in-view, and growth occurs when experience expands our meanings – that is, deepens our understanding of how means connect to our ends. Waks distinguishes between proto-meanings in instinctual behavior and the fully articulated meanings made possible by language. Dewey defines the good as the expansion of meaning resulting from the resolution of conflicting impulses into a unified course of action, rejecting moral absolutism in favor of norms shaped by lived experience. Waks concludes by connecting personal growth with democracy as a moral ideal. The good person, in this view, is one who adapts, learns, and creatively responds to new social challenges and freely communicates with others – that is, the person with a democratic personality.

This chapter examines the historical development of psychology through the framework of empiricism, beginning with behaviorism’s emphasis on stimulus–response relationships and extending to cognitive psychology’s focus on mental processes. It describes neuroscience’s potential to synthesize these perspectives: preserving the behaviorist mandate of referring only to measurable phenomena while acknowledging the existence of important processes that occur between stimulus and response and that may be rationally characterized using some of the language of psychology. The chapter also introduces a conceptual framework for understanding neuroscience’s practical contributions to psychology while describing critiques of redundancy and the logical difficulties posed by reverse inference. Finally, this chapter advocates for the value of clear empirical communication in describing psychology’s relationship with behavior, citing historical examples of ambiguous language in biological psychology.

Clinical social workers, psychologists, counselors, and other mental health professionals play key roles in a variety of systems, many of which have a history of systematically marginalizing and disadvantaging people of color (POC), sexual and gender minorities (SGM), immigrants and refugees, individuals with disabilities, and other historically oppressed individuals and groups. While the mental health disciplines all require some training in diversity and multiculturalism, graduate-level mental health training varies widely in the extent to which it addresses systemic inequities and builds the capacities of practitioners to disrupt and repair the harm caused by these historical patterns of oppression. This chapter explores this area of focus and practice guidance in embedding anti-oppressive and intersectional concepts into mental and behavioral health practice.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) must be rooted in anti-oppressive practices that promote equity, power-sharing, and community autonomy, ultimately contributing to the dismantling of systemic racism and the advancement of health equity. Social work leadership and practice are prime locations to incorporate and support CBPR as a mechanism to strengthen processes, intervention, policy creation, and community strategies.

Abstract: In Human Nature and Conduct (1922), Dewey concludes that “morals is education.” However, what does the statement mean for how we educate today? In this chapter, Wiberg argues that in equating morals with education, Dewey is underscoring that all educational processes have a normative dimension. The chapter connects Dewey’s idea of moral conduct in HNC to his other works on ethics and moral education. On Dewey’s account, conduct – which involves reflection, judgment, deliberation, and potentially critique of established ideas and standards – can be possible in democratic societies. But here the role of the educator is crucial. The chapter underscores Dewey’s view that moral education is not a matter of direct instruction in how to act in a moral way. Instead, the educator’s task is to support students to learn how to deeply reflect on moral issues. In this learning process, the learner’s engagement in social communities is essential for growth, an idea Wiberg connects to Hegel’s notion of Bildung. Ultimately, the chapter emphasizes that Dewey’s moral educational thinking is highly relevant in our present multicultural world as it suggests the importance of providing students with opportunities to discuss connections between various moral ideas, principles, and actions and their consequences for humanity.

The study of behavioral genetics seeks to answer two fundamental questions: To what extent are traits innate? And how can gene sequencing be utilized to predict behavior? This chapter begins with a critical evaluation of twin and adoption studies, describing the challenges of separating genetic influences from gene–environment interactions. The latter part explores modern genetic technologies, such as gene sequencing, and their application in identifying individuals who are at risk for developing neurological conditions, in predicting responses to treatment, and in employing polygenic screening for embryo selection.

Measurement models are the focus of Chapter 5. It treats the nature of concepts, theoretical definitions, and latent variables. Chapter 5 explains model specification, implied moments, model identification, model estimation, and model interpretation, fit, and diagnostics in confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models. Factor score prediction and respecification of models are two other topics it covers.

Chapter 3 concentrates on single equation regression models but presents them from the perspective of structural equations models. It introduces and applies the major steps of structural equation modeling: model specification, implied moments, model identification, model estimation, and model interpretation and fit. It also includes diagnostics and testing for regression and a discussion of the consequences of using multiple regression with variables measured with errors.