Pragmatic Ethics: the moral worth of inquiry

[MonDie]

Where I can find a good account of pragmatic ethics? I've been reading the Stanford Encyclopedia entry about John Dewey's ethical system, but there seems to be very little ethical pragmatism.

My understanding is that pragmatic ethics places moral value on inquiry under the assumption that society has progressed morally and will continue to progress morally through continued inquiry. I know that this could translate into a consequentialist theory with the ultimate end of making a freely inquiring society, but I have found shockingly little written on this aspect of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatic_ethics

ethical pragmatists acknowledge that it can be appropriate to practice a variety of other normative approaches (e.g. consequentialism, deontological ethics, and virtue ethics), yet acknowledge the need for mechanisms which allow society to advance beyond such approaches, a freedom for discourse which does not take any such theory as assumed.

 

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This is my formulation so far.

 

If evaluative moral statements are meaningful, then any knowledge pertaining to their accuracy will help us be moral. Furthermore, if the morality of an action depends on what results from it (consequentialism), then some knowledge will help us identify and/or achieve desired results. The search for knowledge, inquiry, is morally good when the knowledge sought is a kind of knowledge mentioned above. Since the applicability of knowledge (philosophical, natural, or social) isn't known until the knowledge is obtained, all inquiry is potentially good on this moral dimension. Promoting or hindering inquiry tends to be good or bad, respectively, on this moral dimension.

Concern: Are people more inclined to be moral or immoral? If the latter, then scientific knowledge will probably be used for more bad than good. This would make scientific inquiry immoral.
1) Some people are inclined to be noble, while others are inclined to be selfish or stupid. Stupidity doesn't tend toward morality or immorality, but selfishness might.
2) If the state of human affairs has progressivly improved, it could be attributed to our intellectual evolution, but it could also be attributed to us gradually adapting our surroundings to our needs.
No conclusion was reached.

 

Some Loosely Outlined Ideas

Collective discrimination hinders inquiry by creating a slanted playing field.

Percieved discrimination hinders inquiry by inducing the fear of discrimination. Succumbing to this fear is likewise immoral.

Edited June 14, 2014 by MonDie