There are two schools of social reform. One bases itself upon the notion of a morality which springs from an inner freedom, something mysteriously cooped up within personality. It asserts that the only way to change institutions is for men to purify their own hearts, and that when this has been accomplished, change of institutions will follow of itself. The other school denies the existence of any such inner power. … It says that men are made what the are by the forces of the environment, that human nature is purely malleable, and that till institutions are changed, nothing can be done. … There is an alternative to being penned in between these two theories. We can recognize that all conduct is interaction between elements of human nature and the environment, natural and social.

John Dewey (1859-1952) American teacher and philosopher
Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology, Introduction (1922)

 
Added on 15-Feb-13 | Last updated 15-Feb-13
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