Professor of philosophy pens new book, ‘Beyond Moral Fundamentalism’

Radford University professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies Steven Fesmire is the author of the new book “Beyond Moral Fundamentalism: Toward a Pragmatic Pluralism.”

Published by Oxford University Press, Fesmire’s book delves into moral fundamentalism, “the my-way-or-the-highway notion that my group has exclusive access to the right diagnoses and prescriptions to our moral and political problems,” the professor explains. 

“Moral fundamentalism,” Fesmire continues, “causes us to oversimplify problems, neglect broader context, take refuge in dogmatic absolutes, ignore possibilities for common ground, assume privileged access to the right way to proceed and shut off honest inquiry.”

In his book, Fesmire describes an alternative approach, pragmatic pluralism, “that can be applied to complex ethical, political, educational and policy problems. This approach avoids flattening variability among values or presuming that abstract theories can determine what we ought to do on the ground.”

In an engaging style, Fesmire argues that the single-right-way premise that logically underlies moral fundamentalism is both unwarranted and constrictive, and that quests for unifying moral principles can still be accommodated within a wider pluralistic approach.

In a post for Oxford University Press’s “Academic Insights for the Thinking World” blog, Fesmire explores answers to four pressing questions regarding moral fundamentalism: (1) What is it? (2) Is it really such a bad thing? (3) Is it good for motivating public action? and (4) Are we stuck with it?

The Radford professor and past president of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy is also the author of “John Dewey and Moral Imagination: Pragmatism in Ethics” (Indiana University Press, 2003) and “Dewey” (Routledge, 2015), each of which received “Outstanding Academic Title” awards from Choice magazine. Fesmire is also editor of “The Oxford Handbook of Dewey” (Oxford University Press, 2019; Paperback edition, 2023).

In addition to his books and articles, Fesmire’s published writings have recently appeared in Salon, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, The Conversation, The Humanist, The Key Reporter, and Education Week. His conversation with Bob Denton about moral leadership will air this fall on Blue Ridge PBS. 

In 2022, Fesmire was honored with Radford's College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences Distinguished Scholar Award, and he was a recipient of the university’s 2022-2023 Dalton Eminent Senior Scholar Award. 

Read a free chapter of “Beyond Moral Fundamentalism: Toward a Pragmatic Pluralism.”