Being Better: Idealism, Pragmatism, and Ethonomics in Arthur Miller's All My Sons

Idealism and pragmatism are prominent in our public discourse, framing our most contentious political and cultural debates. However, the two actually form a dynamic symbiotic system that facilitates human beings. In Arthur Miller's All My Sons, this relationship is manifest by the interworkings of ethics and economics. By understanding that there is no economics without ethics, and vice versa, we can then learn both to do better and to be better. And by understanding better the symbiosis between idealism and pragmatism, we create the potential for an avenue to advance a public discourse that has become static and stalled.