On the record
The extent of its social utility is what blinds us to the numerous and great social disutilities that attend its present working, or at least reconcile us to its continuation.
Said by
John Dewey
Source
gutenberg.orgJohn Dewey: “The extent of its social utility is what blinds us to the numerous and great social disutilities that attend its present…”
Editor's note · Context
Dewey critiques the blind acceptance of private property due to its perceived social benefits.
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In no two ages or places is there the same public.
It rules but it does not regulate; for its rule is confined to receipt of tribute and ceremonial deference.
Nothing better exhibits the scope of the movement than the fact that philosophic theories of knowledge made the same appeal to the self, or ego, in the form of personal consciousness identified with mind itself, that political theory made…
In this distinction we find the germ of the distinction between the private and the public.