Not Guilty Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made Against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials by John Dewey

by John Dewey

Report from the international commission that investigated and exposed Joseph Stalin's frame-up of Leon Trotsky, the first major blow against the Moscow "show trials" of the 1930s.

Paperback

First published October 30, 2008

About the author

John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey, along with Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, is recognized as one of the founders of the philosophy of pragmatism and of functional psychology. He was a major representative of the progressive and progressive populist philosophies of schooling during the first half of the 20th century in the USA.

In 1859, educator and philosopher John Dewey was born in Burlington, Vermont. He earned his doctorate at Johns Hopkins University in 1884. After teaching philosophy at the University of Michigan, he joined the University of Chicago as head of a department in philosophy, psychology and education, influenced by Darwin, Freud and a scientific outlook. He joined the faculty of Columbia University in 1904. Dewey's special concern was reform of education. He promoted learning by doing rather than learning by rote. Dewey conducted international research on education, winning many academic honors worldwide. Of more than 40 books, many of his most influential concerned education, including My Pedagogic Creed (1897), Democracy and Education (1902) and Experience and Education (1938). He was one of the founders of the philosophy of pragmatism. A humanitarian, he was a trustee of Jane Addams' Hull House, supported labor and racial equality, and was at one time active in campaigning for a third political party. He chaired a commission convened in Mexico City in 1937 inquiring into charges made against Leon Trotsky during the Moscow trials. Raised by an evangelical mother, Dewey had rejected faith by his 30s. Although he disavowed being a "militant" atheist, when his mother complained that he should be sending his children to Sunday school, he replied that he had gone to Sunday School enough to make up for any truancy by his children. As a pragmatist, he judged ideas by the results they produced. As a philosopher, he eschewed an allegiance to fixed and changeless dogma and superstition. He belonged to humanist societies, including the American Humanist Association. D. 1952.

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an artifact in a fascinating moment in twentieth century history. As a response to Stalin’s infamous show trials of political opponents, Trotsky tried to stage a counter “trial” to clear his name, and by extension, all communist opponents of Stalin. The famous American pragmatist philosopher, John Dewey, agree to preside over the counter trial.

[Marc Lichtman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the transcript of the proceedings of the Preliminary Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made Against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials. It is usually just known as "the Dewey Commission," because it was chaired by progressive philosopher John Dewey. Suzanne LaFollette was the secretary.

It has an introduction by Will Reissner, writer for Intercontinental Press, the Militant, and other publications. Its cover is designed to match that of the Pathfinder Press edition of 'The Case of Leon Trotsky: Report of Hearings on the Charges Made against Him in the Moscow Trials. They both use artwork by Dorothy Eisner, who did sketches during the hearings, and then turned them into paintings.

Every library should have these two books, which serve as a reminder of how strong Stalinist influence was, even in the United States, and of the few intellectuals and activists who upheld truth as higher than popularity. We could use more of them today, to take on the myths of gender and frauds like the 1619 Project.