Product Description
Tapping archival sources and Dewey's extensive correspondence, Dalton reveals that Dewey had close personal and intellectual ties to scientists and scholars that were influential in forming the mature expression of his thought. Dalton traces the not-always-smooth pathways that led Dewey to shed his Calvinist upbringing to transform Hegelian phenomenology into a science of mind, to challenge Freudian psychology, and to articulate the central concerns ofnaturalism and pragmatism.Dewey's relationships with F. M. Alexander, Henri Matisse, Niels Bohr, Myrtle McGraw, and Lawrence K. Frank, among others, show how Dewey drew upon these collaborations to disperse pragmatism throughout American thought and culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

becoming john dewey; not everyman's book
Thomas C. Dalton's book on John Dewey philosophy and its fortunes in American philosophical and scientific circles in the twentieth century is essentially a job in rehabilitation, not scholarship. Dalton is only interested in jousting with various philosophers, active either while Dewey was alive or since his death in 1952; as such it fails as a work of history, for it is advocacy and rehabilitation, at once sentimental and turgid. ... Read more

Product Description
Intelligence in the Modern World: Philosophy of John Dewey, Modern Library, NY, 1939, 1077pp. A classic interpretation and critique of Dewey's work. ... Read more

Product Description
This welcome anthology presents for the first time in one volume John Dewey's major political writings. Ranging throughout his career, the selections display Dewey's philosophical method, his controversial views on war and education, his essential contributions to democratic theory, and his distinctive brand of progressive political ideology. There is a substantial introductory essay that sets the selections in historical context, explains their continuing relevance to American politics, and explores the revivial of interest in Dewey in recent years. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
America's most renowned social philosopher John Dewey shines his powerful intellect on the serious public and cultural issues surrounding the place of the individual in a technologically advanced society. In this penetrating study, he addresses the fear that personal creative potential will be trampled by assembly-line monotony, political bureaucracy, and an industrialised culture of uniformity. Armed with his pragmatic approach and his belief in the power of critical intelligence, Dewey argues that individualism has in fact been offered a uniquely higher plane of technological development upon which to grow, mature, and redefine itself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

One of the best philosophical socialist books
You wouldn't think it, but this little baby packs a huge radical punch. Written in 1929 after the Depression set in it's Dewey's testament on what he thought society would have to do to solve that kind of systemic problem and survive. What comes out from Dewey's experiential philosophy is a radical critique of individualism that fit's into the category today of "Council Communism" or "Autonomous Marxism", meaning socialism which is concieved according to Marxist type theory but is realized according to radically democratic and workerist means. A forgotten gem, read this and then absorb the liberatory potential of the rest of Dewey's many philosophical works. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (10)

Harper Lee was right
I came across this book by an unusual path. I'm writing a book about Harper Lee's great classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, and I noticed that her already literate Scout thought that the teaching techniques of her first grade teacher were ridiculous and worse. Later, her brother tells her that her teacher was following something new (in 1930s Alabama) called the "Dewey Decimal System."

The more I thought about it, the more clearly I realized that, as a six-year-old, Scout had a much better understanding of what the disadvantaged kids at her school needed than the much esteemed dean of American education, John Dewey. The author of this book recognizes that and quotes Lee in his Preface. He also has this to say on page 45:

"To be sure, Dewey offers an unsettling commentary about the use of books in education. He says that in an earlier educational era the school needed to supply books to students because books were otherwise unavailable... 'But conditions change,' Dewey insists, as 'libraries abound, books are many and cheap, magazines and newspapers are everywhere.' For that reason, 'the schools do not any longer bear the peculiar relation to books and knowledge which they once did.'"

Dewey's comments were, of course, true of the privileged kids who attended the University of Chicago's University Elementary School where he did research. But they weren't remotely true of millions of children at the time he wrote that (or even today). Scout, with her innate good sense, was picking up on just how harmful Dewey's ideas are for all but the most privileged of children. Dewey wanted to keep books away from kids whose homes had no books. And as Scout notes, he wanted poor farm kids, whose lives were already filled with the drudgery of farm labor, to be given a romanticized experience with milking a cow. How ridiculous!

What are we to make of that? It's hard to imagine Dewey being as unintelligent as his remarks about books seem to suggest. Over time, I've come to the conclusion that G. K. Chesterton was right, that there are many people in our world who are solely interested in "making good," meaning being recognized for their alleged achievements. They have no interest in being good, meaning actually accomplishing something good even if no one notices.

Dewey wasn't interested in the slightest what impact his theories had on actual school children. Those sorts of thought never entered his mind. What concerned him was developing various schemes and theories that created circles of adoring disciples, which is precisely what happened.

Edmondson's book is a concise and excellent explanation of what Dewey taught, at least to the extent that Dewey's often muddled and self-promoting ideas can be called a system. It also links the problems with the "Dewey Decimal System" of To Kill a Mockingbird with the same failures in modern education that a fictional Scout was noticing in 1933.

After you finish this book, you just might want to read To Kill a Mockingbird for what Scout had to say about Dewey and those who follow him.

--Michael W. Perry, author of Untangling Tolkien: A Chronology and Commentary for The Lord of the Rings

Utilizes Clear and Articulate Rhetoric
For contemporary educators, this work will prove to be an invaluable resource.Even if, when finished, you find that you disagree with the arguments crafted, you will still be forced to think deeply about the many issues and dichotomies surrounding the various directions of educational philosophy.

Persuasive, but misleading
I was teaching first-grade in Brooklyn when I read this book, and found a lot of Edmondson's arguments persuasive, given my classroom experience.Deweyan pedagogy is challenging, if not in some ways damaging, to implement even in the smallest ways in an actual classroom.That said, Edmondson's book isn't really about Dewey or his thought.It's a political work, which repeats a number of points made by educational traditionalists, but doesn't really represent Dewey's thought accurately, or engage with him critically in a serious way.Edmondson takes the portrait of Dewey presented by Russell Kirk in "The Conservative Mind" and imputes it to Dewey.Again, let me stress, I often agreed with Edmondson's assessment of American education, but his book is NOT an accurate or effective account of Dewey's thought and what's wrong with it.John Patrick Diggins' "The Promise of Pragmatism" remains the best account of Dewey's flaws, though it is primarily political, rather than pedagogical.

Unravels many threads in a profound mystery
In 51 years of observing and experiencing the public education system in America I formed three broad impressions. The first was that educators must have a fondness for experimentation, since they always seemed to be reinventing the wheel. The second, was that all this reinventing was disturbing considering that those same educators didn't even seem to have a firm grasp on what outcome they desired. The third impression I had was that all the experimentation must be good for educators in the sense that it probably gives them ample excuse to go on taxpayer funded junkets to symposiums in swank places like San Franciso; all in the name of discovering the next best "method" of educating children. This book has made it clear why I developed those impressions over the years. The author of all the chaos in the schools is a man who wrote 130 books/papers on educational theory but could not manage or get results in the one actual classroom he taught in - namely John Dewy. Only a liberal could follow such a blind guide. Dewey might be likened to a Jimmy Carter of Education.

This book is not as in-depth as one might like, but the author points out in the preface that oceans of ink have already been spilled over Dewey and his theories. This book seeks to cut through those oceans and offer a brief and devastating critique of the reckless experimenter named Dewey. Dewey serves as type of person who thinks he knows better than parents how to raise and educate children, and who flippantly would use children as pawns in an end-game of social engineering. Sort of sounds like Marxism doesn't it?

What on Earth?
You are welcome to do your own research on John Dewey, but he has hardly corrupted America's schools -- in fact, we've hardly adopted his theories at all.If we had, we would no longer have SATs, LSATs, MCATs, or GPAs for that matter.We certainly wouldn't have the No Child Left Behind Act. This book is about school prayer, not John Dewey.

From Wikipedia: "Dewey's ideas, while quite popular, were never broadly and deeply integrated into the practices of American public schools, though some of his values and terms were widespread. Progressive education (both as espoused by Dewey, and in the more popular and inept forms of which Dewey was critical) was essentially scrapped during the Cold War, when the dominant concern in education was creating and sustaining a scientific and technological elite for military purposes. In the post-Cold War period, however, progressive education has reemerged in many school reform and education theory circles as a thriving field of inquiry. Dewey is often cited as creating the foundations for outcomes-based education and Standards-based education reform, and standards such as the NCTM mathematics standards, all of which emphasize critical thinking over memorization of facts." ... Read more

Product Description

"... a comprehensive canvass of Dewey's logic, metaphysics, aesthetics, philosophy of history, and social thought."  -- Choice

"... a major addition to the recent accumulation of in-depth studies of Dewey." -- Journal of Speculative Philosophy

"Larry Hickman has done an exemplary job in demonstrating the relevance of John Dewey's philosophy to modern-day discussions of technology."  -- Ethics

Product Description

Product Description
A morality "based on the study of human nature instead of upon disregard for it" is the focus of this influential work by one of America's greatest educators and philosophers. Dewey maintains that the key to social psychology lies in an understanding of the many varieties of habit; individual mental activity, on the other hand, is guided by the subordinate factors of impulse and intelligence. His investigation therefore focuses on three main areas of conduct: habit, impulse, and intelligence. Each factor receives an incisive treatment, brimming with ideas, insights, and considered reflections sure to be appreciated by educators, psychologists, philosophers, and anyone interested in the role of the individual in society. Unabridged republication of the classic 1922 edition.
... Read more

Product Description
An examination of John Dewey's ideas and influence, aiming to offer new insight into Dewey's character and achievements. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Visionary of the Everyday
In the course of a long life beginning before the Civil War and extending to shortly before the election of President Eisenhower, John Dewey (1859-1952) made large contributions to philosophy and to American public life.Dewey wrote extensively for both an academic and a public audience.He developed a philosophy of pragmatism and contributed significantly to American education.He was a socialist and was publically engaged througout his life in addressing the issues of the day.In particular he criticized the President Roosevelt's New Deal for what Dewey thought was an inadequate response to the Depression and a misguided attempt to preserve capitalism.He supported United States participation in WW I but shortly after the end of the War, he became an isolationist.He retained this isolationist stance until Pearl Harbor.

Dewey's thought resists easy summation.His writing style, particularly in his philosophical works, was long, winding, obscure and difficult to follow. As did many thinkers in the 20th Century, Dewey changed and modified his views with some frequency during the course of his life.

Alan Ryan has written an exellent study of John Dewey which explores Dewey's life, the influences upon him, his philosophical writings, his political activism, and the rises and falls in Dewey's reputation after his death.The book is somewhat dense and repetitive, but this too is a characteristic of the writings of its subject.Ryan writes insightfully in trying to place Dewey as philosophically somewhere between the despair of European existentialists such as Heidegger and Sartre and the English-American analytical philosophy of the 20th Century which denied that philosophical thought had a distinctive contribution to make to human intellectual endeavor.

I thought Ryan was good in discussing Dewey's early Congregationalit upbringing and his falling away from Christianity.I also thought Ryan placed good emphasis on the Hegelian idealism which Dewey adopted early in his career.The book could have used a fuller discussion of the nature of Hegelian idealism.As I read Ryan's book, I thought that Dewey retained even more of a Hegelian influence in his later thought than Ryan recognized.Dewey's emphasis on holistic thinking and on the relationship of the community and the individual remains Hegelian -- a naturalized Hegelianism as Ryan points out.

Ryan discussed Dewey's educational work at the University of Chicago.This is the aspect of Dewey's work that is best known.As Ryan points out, Dewey is often criticized for the shortcomings of American education.He is blamed, probably unjustifiably, for a lack of discipline and academic knowledge in too many American students.Ryan does point out, in fairness, that Dewey's actual educational theory was obscure in many points and undeveloped in specifics.It is hard to know just what Dewey had in mind, but it surely was not laxness and a deference to the wishes of young children.

I thought the strongest aspect of Ryan's book was his discussion of Dewey's mature philosophical writings, in particular "Experience and Nature" "A Common Faith" and "Art and Experience."In these works, Dewey tried to develop a philosophical pragmatism which was based on science and secularism.He denied the existence of an objective independent truth which science tries to capture and also denied subjectivism.Dewey recognized that human experience could be viewed from many perspectives and he struggled to explain how many of the goals of the religious and artistic life were consistent with science and secularism.He wanted to show them as perspectives equally important to the scientific perspective and to disclaim a concept of truth as "out there" rather than as sought,developed and made through human social activity.Dewey's position is difficult and, to his credit, Ryan does not simplify it.Ryan's exposition is challenging and made me want to read some of Dewey for myself.

A great deal of Ryan's book is devoted to Dewey's career as a public intellectual commenting on the issues of the day, as he saw them.Dewey travelled to Russia and China, investigated the Russian show trials of Trotsky and others, supported American participation in WW I, and advocated social liberalism.Ryan discusses Dewey's positions fully and intelligently and explores how Dewey's issues remain alive in the late 20th (and early 21st)century.The discussion of American political life and of the role of ideas is fascinating even though I frequently did not agree either with Dewey or with Ryan.

Ryan recognizes the paradoxical nature of the work of this American thinker. Dewey was a philosopher who critized sharply thought and reflection separate from action.He was a secularist who saw the importance of religion.He recognized the nature of industrial society but stressed the importance of art and culture.Dewey was, as Ryan points out in his conclusion
something of a visionary of the everyday.Ryan writes (page 269):"It was his ability to infuse the here and now with a kind of transcendent glow that overcame the denseness and awkwardness of his prose and the vagueness of his message and secured such widespread conviction. .... He will remain for the forseeable future a rich source of intellectual nourishment for anyone not absolutely locked within the anxieties of his or her own heart and not absolutely despondent about the prospects of the modern world."

The life of Dewey and 100 years of American thought
Ryan, from a British perspective, offers a detailed biography of Dewey the philosopher while enveloping the reader in the context of Dewey's varied and shifting America.Ryan also wrestles with the issues America wrestled with and continues to struggle with today.The work blends nicely the intricacies of Dewey's tremendous ideas with detailed and insightful references to Bertrand Russell and contemporary Democratic politics in America.The greatest contribution Ryan has made is detailing the arguments, philosophy, and problems Dewey felt significant without epitomizing and reducing Dewey as many have done since Dewey rose to prominance at the turn of the century at the Chicago Univeristy Lab School.

Educators, graduate students in education and philosophy, politicians, and anyone genuinely interested in American thought will be inpsired by Ryan to dig further--to read more by Dewey, to read more of the history of American ideas not just events in America ... Read more

Product Description
John Dewey was an icon of philosophy and psychology during the first half of the 20th century. Known as the father of Functional Psychology and a pivotal figure of the Pragmatist movement, he also played a strong hand in the progressive movement in education. This concise and critical look at Dewey's work examines his discourse of right and wrong, as well as political notions such as freedom, rights, liberty, equality, and naturalism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dewey explained and illuminated
Clear, readable, and well-balanced critical review of a wider range of Dewey's philosophical endeavors than any of the comparable studies of Dewey. Don't be fooled by the brevity and price of this little book--it delves deeply into the most important issues while bringing those new to Dewey along for the journey. Recommended for philosophers and intelligent readers alike. For selected topics (e.g., psychology, education, ethics, religion) this book can be of great help any teacher who wants their students to get a solid familiarization with Dewey's views in those areas, but cannot devote a large chunk of the semester to reading primary Dewey sources. To philosophy teachers, this is a great way to work Dewey into courses focusing on historical sequences, epistemology, aesthetics, political philosophy, ethics, religion, courses. Most important, it reads well--it moves along briskly with good examples and straightforward explanations. Dewey explained! ... Read more

Product Description
Considered by some the most controversial American philosopher of contemporary times, SIDNEY HOOK (1902-1989) was infamous for the wild swing in his political thought over the course of his career, starting out as a young Marxist before the Great Depression and ending up a vehement anti-Communist in his later years. Much of what he taught and valued as a thinker he learned as the prize pupil of American educator and philosopher John Dewey.In John Dewey: An Intellectual Portrait, first published in 1939, Hook examines Dewey's approach to philosophy in clear, nontechnical language meant to offer insight into and illustration of the sweep and vitality of Dewey's vision. A staunch pragmatist-a developer of the philosophical discipline that insists upon taking into account the real-world impact of concepts of truth and meaning-Dewey explored theories of idealism, politics, and society that continue to be vitally relevant today. Hook's exploration deepens our appreciation of Dewey's ongoing impact on American culture. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1902.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
In Democracy and Rhetoric, Nathan Crick articulates from John Dewey's body of work a philosophy of rhetoric that reveals the necessity for bringing forth a democratic life infused with the spirit of ethics, a method of inquiry, and a sense of beauty. In revaluing Dewey's importance to the field of communication studies, Crick relies on rhetorical theory as well interdisciplinary insights from philosophy, history, sociology, aesthetics, and political science as he demonstrates that significant engagement with issues of rhetoric and communication are central to Dewey's political philosophy.

... Read more

Product Description
John Dewey and the Art of Teaching: Toward Reflective and Imaginative Practice is an engaging and accessible introduction to the art of teaching as seen through the eyes of John Dewey. Authors Douglas J. Simpson, Michael J. B. Jackson, and Judy C. Aycock provide a lucid interpretation of the complexities and art of teaching in contemporary classrooms. In addition, they discuss, apply, and question the practical implications of Dewey’s ideas about the art of teaching for beginning and practicing teachers. ... Read more

Product Description
In addition to being one of the greatest technical philosophers of the twentieth century, John Dewey (1859-1952) was an educational innovator, a Progressive Era reformer, and one of America's last great public intellectuals. Dewey's insights into the problems of public education, immigration, the prospects for democratic government, and the relation of religious faith to science are as fresh today as when they were first published. His penetrating treatments of the nature and function of philosophy, the ethical and aesthetic dimensions of life, and the role of inquiry in human experience are of increasing relevance at the turn of the 21st century. Based on the award-winning 37-volume critical edition of Dewey's work, "The Essential Dewey" presents for the first time a collection of Dewey's writings that is both manageable and comprehensive. The volume includes essays and book chapters that exhibit Dewey's intellectual development over time; the selection represents his mature thinking on every major issue to which he turned his attention.Eleven part divisions cover: Dewey in Context; Reconstructing Philosophy; Evolutionary Naturalism; Pragmatic Metaphysics; Habit, Conduct, and Language; Meaning, Truth, and Inquiry; Valuation and Ethics; The Aims of Education; The Individual, the Community, and Democracy; Pragmatism and Culture: Science and Technology, Art and Religion; and Interpretations and Critiques. Taken as a whole, this collection provides unique access to Dewey's understanding of the problems and prospects of human existence and of the philosophical enterprise. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good introduction to Dewey
I believe that John Dewey was one of the most important philosophers in history, bar none.But he is not easy to read, in part because of the subtlety of his thinking, in part because of his prose style, which can be ponderous and convoluted.My first encounter with him was in "Pragmatism: A Reader" by Louis Menard (Pragmatism: A Reader), and I was not thrilled.For some reason, I decided to try Vol. 1 of this anthology, and my opinion was totally turned around.This book is an excellent introduction to Dewey's thinking. The articles are well-selected, presenting a lot of breadth, and substantial depth in such a way that you are led somewhat gently into difficult subject matter, and not bowled over by unfamiliar concepts.Of course, like most anthologies, at some point it leaves you wanting to go deeper.I bought both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, but someplace early in Vol. 2 decided to switch to "Experience and Nature" (Experience and Nature), and am glad I did.I will probably go back to Vol. 2, though.The BREADTH of Dewey's thought was also phenomenal, and only a good anthology (or a lifetime of study) can give one a feel for that. ... Read more

Product Description
This critical edition of "The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy and Other Essays in Contemporary Thought", edited by Larry A. Hickman, presents the results of John Dewey's patient construction, over sixteen years, of the radically new view of the methods and concerns of philosophical inquiry. It was a view that he continued to defend for the rest of his life. In the 1910 "The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy and Other Essays in Contemporary Thought" - the first collection of Dewey's previously published, edited essays - Dewey provides readers with an overview of the scope and direction of his philosophical vision in one volume. The order of the eleven essays is a reverse chronology, with the later essays appearing first. The collection offers a detailed portrait of Dewey's proposed reconstruction of the traditional concepts of knowledge and truth. It furthermore elaborates on how his new logic and his proposal regarding knowledge and truth fit comfortably together, not only with each other but also with a pragmatically proper understanding of belief, reality, and experience.Because "The Collected Works of John Dewey, 1882-1953" was published chronologically, however, the essays of the 1910 Darwin book also appear in over six volumes in the Collected Works. This new definitive edition restores a classic collection of essays authored and edited by John Dewey as they originally were published. The edition is presented with ancillary materials, including responses by Dewey's critics and his replies, and an introduction by Douglas Browning. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Casualties of Darwinism
Whatever one's views of Dewey one has to wonder if the confusing influence of Darwinism is partly responsible for the inability of pragmatism to generate any real philosphical lift. Dewey's work seems to clock the approximate point at which everyone fell for the new Darwinian foundationalism, unless it was Nietzsche, or else Marx/Engles, who was the first. Does it never occur to anyone that philosophy should produce a critique of Darwin? The onset of idiocy here goes a long way toward explaining the decline of twentieth century philosophy.

A bit repetitive and difficult, but still worth it
I am a big fan of John Dewey's work. Like many other Dewey readers, I find his work frustratingly hard to penetrate. This book is a bit more readable than most collections, but is still quite difficult.

First, all of these essays speak on the common theme of pragmatic metaphysics (epistemology?). This alone is a difficult (but immensely rewarding) subject. Fortunately, two of the best essays here ("Nature and its good" and "A short catechism concerning truth") are in dialogue form - something Dewey did only twice.

Other than those two there is some brilliant - and tedious - philosophy here. Of course, the title article needs no introduction - it is a standard and rightly so. "The experimental theory of knowledge" and "The intellectualist criterion of truth" both go far in explaining how Dewey breaks the dualism of real/ideal in metaphysics. "Beleifs and Existences" is also a great essay for understanding how Dewey looks at beliefs, not objects, as the 'creator of the world'.

Overall, I have to say that, in honesty, the book gets quite repititious about 2/3rds through. The basic gist is that the essays here map out Dewey's 'experimentalism' by showing how both the intellectualist idea of a priori or absolute truth 'out there', and empiricist concept of passive experience, are both flawed. Dewey outlays his brand of pragmatism, stemming from the naturalism touched on in title essay.

For Dewey fans, this is a great read. For those semi-interested and versed in Dewey, recommended but possibly after you've read "Quest for Certainty" (which, I think, is a more 'important' and even 'inviting' book). For the novice to Dewey, this is not the book to get. Read 'The Essential Dewey: vol. 1" first. ... Read more