John Deweywas an American philosopher, psychologist, democratic socialist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey is one of the primary figures associated with the philosophy of pragmatism and is considered one of the fathers of functional psychology. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Dewey as the 93rd most cited psychologist of the 20th century. A well-known public intellectual, he was also a major voice of progressive education and liberalism. Although Dewey is known best for his publications about education, he also wrote about many other topics, including epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics, art, logic, social theory, and ethics. He was a major educational reformer for the 20th century. The overriding theme of Dewey's works was his profound belief in democracy, be it in politics, education, or communication and journalism. As Dewey himself stated in 1888, while still at the University of Michigan, "Democracy and the one, ultimate, ethical ideal of humanity are to my mind synonymous." Known for his advocacy of democracy, Dewey considered two fundamental elements—schools and civil society—to be major topics needing attention and reconstruction to encourage experimental intelligence and plurality. Dewey asserted that complete democracy was to be obtained not just by extending voting rights but also by ensuring that there exists a fully formed public opinion, accomplished by communication among citizens, experts, and politicians, with the latter being accountable for the policies they adopt.
The John Dewey Collection features:
Democracy and Education The Child and the Curriculum The School and Society Schools Of To-morrow The Schools of Utopia Moral Principles in Education Interest and Effort in Education Health and Sex in Higher Education My Pedagogic Creed German Philosophy and Politics Leibniz’s New Essays Concerning the Human Understanding: Studies in Logical Theory Interpretation of Savage Mind Ethics The Problem of Values Soul and Body Logical Conditions of a Scientific Treatment of Morality The Evolutionary Method As Applied To Morality: Its Scientific Necessity & Its Significance for Conduct The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy Nature and Its Good: A conversation Intelligence and Morals The Experimental Theory of Knowledge The Intellectualist Criterion for Truth A Short Catechism Concerning Truth Beliefs and Existences The Postulate of Immediate Empiricism “Consciousness” and Experience The Significance of the Problem of Knowledge Essays in Experimental Logic Reconstruction in Philosophy Does Reality Possess Practical Character? Psychology and Social Practice Psychological Doctrine and Philosophical Teaching Psychology as Philosophic Method How We Think The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology The Psychology of Effort Creative Intelligence The Ego as Cause The Terms ‘Conscious’ and ‘Consciousness’ On Some Current Conceptions of the term ‘Self’ The Psychological Standpoint The Theory of Emotion: Emotional Attitudes & the Significance of Emotions Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology and On Politics
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.