There is more than a speculative difference between a theory of the state which regards it as an instrument in protecting individuals in the rights they already have, and one which conceives its function to be the effecting of a more equitable distribution of rights among individuals.
Dewey contrasts two different theories of the state, highlighting their implications for individual rights.
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They persist as emotional cries rather than as reasoned ideas.
The ties which hold men together in action are numerous, tough and subtle.
If one wishes to realize the distance which may lie between “facts” and the meaning of facts, let one go to the field of social discussion.
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.