The Political Writings

by John Dewey, Debra A Morris (Editor), Ian Shapiro (Editor)

Includes notes on sources and editions and an editor's introduction.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1993

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

[Miguel Cisneros Saucedo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Los escritos políticos, editados por Debra Morris y Ian Shapiro es una recopilación excepcional que ofrece una profunda inmersión en el pensamiento político de uno de los filósofos más influyentes del siglo XX.

Publicado por Hackett Publishing, este libro es una joya para cualquiera interesado en la filosofía política, la teoría democrática y la reforma educativa. Esta antología de artículos destaca por la meticulosa selección y organización de los escritos de Dewey, abarcando sus reflexiones sobre la democracia, la libertad, la educación y la participación cívica.
Morris y Shapiro hacen un trabajo excelente al contextualizar y organizar cada escrito, proporcionando al lector el marco necesario para comprender las ideas de Dewey en su totalidad. Además, la claridad y la relevancia de los textos seleccionados son impresionantes. Dewey aborda cuestiones que siguen siendo de vital importancia hoy en día, como la importancia de la educación para una ciudadanía informada, la necesidad de una democracia participativa y la interconexión entre la teoría y la práctica política. Su énfasis en la educación como fundamento para la vida democrática resuena poderosamente en el contexto actual, donde la desinformación y la apatía política son desafíos constantes.

Algo importante a mencionar es la edición de Hackett Publishing, la cual es de alta calidad, con una presentación cuidada que facilita la lectura y el estudio. Los editores proporcionan una introduccion muy útil y notas explicativas que enriquecen la comprensión de los textos y sitúan las ideas de Dewey en un contexto más amplio.

Así pues, éste libro es una obra indispensable que ofrece una visión profunda y accesible del pensamiento político de Dewey. La excelente selección y edición de Debra Morris y Ian Shapiro, junto con la relevancia perdurable de las ideas de Dewey, hacen de este libro una lectura esencial para cualquiera interesado en la filosofía política y la teoría democrática. Por estas razones, esta obra merece sin duda una calificación de cinco estrellas.

[Nino Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Dewey's ability to dissect observable occurence with in our capitalistic social structure is unparalleled. He seems to endlessly hover over America's political philosophy as it compares its self to communism and the practical well-being/nature of a progressive culture. He does so eloquently and with great reason. I am a huge fan of his logistics and his take upon a culture that is still relevant 70 years after his death.

[Jacquie Traenkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Now whatever the idea of equality means for democracy, it means, I take it, that the world is not to be construed as a fixed order of species, grades or degrees. It means that every existence deserving the name of existence has something unique and irreplaceable about it, that it does not exist to illustrate a principle, to realize a universal or to embody a kind or class. As a philosophy, it denies the basic principle of atomistic individualism as truly as that of rigid feudalism. For the individualism traditionally associated with democracy makes equality quantitative, and hence individuality is something external and mechanical rather than qualitative and unique. In social and moral matters, equality does not mean mathematical equivalence. [...] It means, in short, a world in which an existence must be reckoned with on its own account, not as something capable of equation with and transformation into something else. It implies, so to speak, a metaphysical mathematics of the incommensurable in which each speaks for itself and demands consideration on its own behalf"(46).

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

PLS 337: U.S. Political Thought

[Michael I · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dewey seems to me to be a solid common sense philosopher who glorifies the core American ideals (freedom, democracy, education, science, responsibility). In many respects, his objective is to synthesize these ideals as in many cases they seem to conflict with each other -- especially, as Dewey adopts the Hegelian emphasis on social ethics. I largely agree this Hegelian/Aristotelian import, although I think he unnecessarily attributes it solely to democracy.

I really like Dewey's educational philosophy, and his practical methodological approach of looking at the current existing conditions and the history of institutions. Furthermore, I appreciate that, although he advocates for radical social change, he believes this should happen gradually.