John Dewey was America’s greatest public philosopher. A prolific and influential writer for both scholarly and general audiences, he stands out for the remarkable breadth of his contributions. Dewey was a founder of a distinctly American philosophical tradition, pragmatism, and he spoke out widely on the most important questions of his day. He was a progressive thinker whose deep commitment to democracy led him to courageous stances on issues such as war, civil liberties, and racial, class, and gender inequalities.
This book gathers the clearest and most powerful of Dewey’s public writings and shows how they continue to speak to the challenges we face today. An introductory essay and short introductions to each of the texts discuss the current relevance and significance of Dewey’s work and legacy. The book includes forty-six essays on topics such as democracy in the United States, political power, education, economic justice, science and society, and philosophy and culture. These essays inspire optimism for the possibility of a more humane public and political culture, in which citizens share in the pursuit of lifelong education through participation in democratic life. America’s Public Philosopher reveals John Dewey as a powerful example for scholars seeking to address a wider audience and a much-needed voice for all readers in search of intellectual and moral leadership.
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Democratic Faith and Education in Unstable Times, by Eric Thomas Weber
- Part I: Democracy and the United States
- 1. Democracy Is Radical
- 2. Address to National Negro Conference
- 3. A Symposium on Woman’s Suffrage
- 4. The Challenge of Democracy to Education
- 5. America in the World
- 6. Our National Dilemma
- 7. Pragmatic America
- 8. The Basic Values and Loyalties of Democracy
- 9. Creative Democracy—The Task Before Us
- Part II: Politics and Power
- 10. Politics and Culture
- 11. Intelligence and Power
- 12. Force, Violence, and the Law
- 13. Why I Am Not a Communist
- 14. Dualism and the Split Atom
- 15. Is There Hope for Politics?
- 16. A Liberal Speaks Out for Liberalism
- 17. Future of Liberalism
- Part III: Education
- 18. What Is a School For?
- 19. Dewey Outlines Utopian Schools
- 20. Industrial Education—A Wrong Kind
- 21. Why Have Progressive Schools?
- 22. Can Education Share in Social Reconstruction?
- 23. Nationalizing Education
- 24. The Teacher and the Public
- 25. Democracy and Education in the World of Today
- Part IV: Social Ethics and Economic Justice
- 26. Capitalistic or Public Socialism?
- 27. Does Human Nature Change?
- 28. The Ethics of Animal Experimentation
- 29. Ethics and International Relations
- 30. Dewey Describes Child’s New World
- 31. The Collapse of a Romance
- 32. The Economic Situation: A Challenge to Education
- 33. The Jobless—A Job for All of Us
- Part V: Science and Society
- 34. The Influence of Darwinism on Philosophy
- 35. Science, Belief and the Public
- 36. Social Science and Social Control
- 37. Education and Birth Control
- 38. The Supreme Intellectual Obligation
- 39. The Revolt against Science
- Part VI: Philosophy and Culture
- 40. The Case of the Professor and the Public Interest
- 41. Social Absolutism
- 42. Some Factors in Mutual National Understanding
- 43. The Basis for Hope
- 44. Art as Our Heritage
- 45. The Value of Historical Christianity
- 46. What Humanism Means to Me
- References
- Index
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