HIST 460/560, Spring 2004, Week 2
Reading and Discussion Questions, Jane Addams, Democracy and Social
Ethics
1. What is Addams’ definition of ethics? Of democracy?
2. Why does she organize her book in the way she does?
3. Explain how each type of relationship Addams describes illustrates
her basic argument about the need for ethical change in the name of democracy?
4. Is social democracy the same as socialism or communism?
5. Addams describes the “social claim” as the competitor
of the “family claim” in the lives of educated women like
herself. Why do you think she suggests that democracy requires the social
claim to be more fully developed for everyone? Wouldn’t that fill
everyone’s lives with conflict and ethical dilemmas?
6. What does Addams’ chapter on domestic servants and their employers
tell us about her view of democracy as a relationship among women, as
well as between men and women?
7. What does Addams have to say about the work ethic? How does it illustrate
her point about the need to socialize democratic ethics in an industrial
society?
8. Why is paternalism unacceptable as an ethical stance? What examples
of paternalism does Addams utilize?
9. If ethical standards are contingent on experience, does Addams give
us any foundation at all for making moral judgments? Are all experiences
ethically equal, or are some experiences more important than others? Do
some Americans bear heavier ethical burdens than others? How would you
describe her concept of democratic morality?
10. What does Addams mean when she writes about ethics that are individualistic
and selfish? What examples does she use?
11. Is social democracy a feminist theory of democracy? Would
Addams have believed that women were more likely than men to be persuaded
by this way of thinking about democracy? If so, why?
12. Do you think Addams considers certain experiential differences more
threatening to democracy than others? How do you think she would compare
the ethical gaps that exist between rich and poor, employers and workers,
parents and daughters, philanthropists and recipients of charity, teachers
and students?
13. Is there a place for individual achievement and personal responsibility
in Addams’ scheme? Is there a place for individuals at all?
14. Do you think that mutual respect and exchange can resolve all the
ethical conflicts that Addams describes? Why or why not?
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