(the following is a brief quote from my draft dissertation)    

       "This action-based definition is consistent with Dewey's pragmatic philosophy. In developing his pragmatic ethical philosophy John Dewey often placed great stress upon the difficulty of isolating intention from action. Dewey challenged moral systems which attributed good to intention or motive. For example in his "Ethics" of 1908, Dewey stated:

" Overt Action Proves Will.--Again, under what circumstances do we actually "take the will for the deed"? When do we assume that so far as the will was concerned it did aim at the result and aimed at it thoroughly, without evasion and without reservation? Only when there is some action which testifies to the real presence of the motive and aim."

     Dewey felt that any analysis of social good ought to be grounded in an understanding of good as manifested in action, rather than good intentions or supposed duty as inferred from relationships or norms." (read more)

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