On the record
If one asks not for an enumeration of facts, but for a definition of the state, one is plunged into controversy, into a medley of contradictory clamors.
Said by
John Dewey
Source
gutenberg.orgJohn Dewey: “If one asks not for an enumeration of facts, but for a definition of the state, one is plunged into controversy, into a…”
Editor's note · Context
Dewey notes that seeking a definition of the state leads to controversy and conflicting opinions rather than clarity.
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Nor can the liberating and confirming results of public action be construed to yield a wholesale idealization of states in contrast with other associations.
That the state should be to some a deity and to others a devil is another evidence of the defects of the premises from which discussion sets out.
It rules but it does not regulate; for its rule is confined to receipt of tribute and ceremonial deference.
The invasion of the community by the new and relatively impersonal and mechanical modes of combined human behavior is the outstanding fact of modern life.