This paper develops a philosophical basis for the concept of community inquiry. Community inquiry derives from pragmatist theory as articulated by Dewey, Peirce, Addams, and others. Following Brendel, we discuss pragmatism in terms of its emphasis on the practical dimensions of inquiry, the pluralistic nature of the tools that are used to study…

Interpretations of John Dewey's political theory grasp his respect for public deliberation, but typically overlook his ethical justification for democracy. Dewey gave two primary reasons why democracy is superior to other forms of government. First, a public educated in the tools of social intelligence can be more effective at managing their…

While the U.S. health care system is failing to serve many of its citizens, agreeing on what is wrong as well as on how to fix the system seems impossibly optimistic. Leonard Fleck attempts to do just this--to diagnose the problems and to address these problems through dialogue. Dewey's philosophy supports the direction of Fleck's work,…

In this article, it is argued that fulfilling teaching and educative experiences go hand in hand. Not only is it possible to be fully alive as a teacher, it is also essential for educative experience to unfold in students. To substantiate the claim made here, an analysis of what I would like to call the ideal of teaching as consummatory experience…

In this paper I raise and respond to the question: Is John Dewey's understanding of growth sufficiently responsive to problems associated with race and racism? I begin with a discussion of Dewey's essay "Racial Prejudice and Friction," and show that Dewey lets a major objection to his response to racism and prejudice stand…

In this paper, I argue that John Dewey's view of human nature entails that culture is a necessary but not sufficient condition for freedom. A surprising corollary of this argument is that, if left to run its natural course, culture in fact tends not to enable but rather to preclude freedom. Hence, there are specific cultural practices--habits…

This essay aims to demonstrate the theoretical purchase offered by linking Dewey's educational theory with a rigorous account of dialectical development. Drawing on recent literature which emphasizes the continuing influence of Hegel on Dewey's thought throughout the latter's career, this essay reconstructs Dewey's argument regarding the…

The revolution that Matthew Lipman inaugurated in educational theory and practice in his Philosophy for Children program has two dimensions. The first--introducing philosophy as a subject matter in the elementary school--is based on the assumption that childhood is an appropriate stage of life to read, think, and talk about philosophical issues…

This essay constructs a comprehensive view of Dewey's approach to history, the historical method, and history education. Drawing on Dewey's approach to the subject at the University of Chicago Laboratory School (1896-1904), Dewey's chapter on the historical method in "Logic: A Theory of Inquiry" (1938), and a critique of Dewey's philosophy of…

John Dewey proposes the "educative" experience as the goal of instruction. Yet, in focusing on the educative experience, Dewey may discount other sorts of learning which occur in school, and indeed in life. This piece proposes a recapitulation of Dewey's theory through Peirce's categorical system of experience, leading to three categories of…

There seems to be an unwritten agreement among most Americans that there are three topics that are best avoided in polite company: (1) politics; (2) personal finances; and (3) religion. The American reluctance to discuss religion with acquaintances at a dinner party or picnic may be a part of a larger phenomenon: a manifestation of the secularism…

This purpose of this paper is to indicate how one should understand John Dewey's attention to and appreciation for the methods and views of modern science. Against the idea that Dewey is a believer in the methods and views of modern science--which would make his philosophy into a form of positivism or scientism--the author argues that Dewey's…

John Dewey was born into a world ripe for philosophical reconstruction, as scientific advancement, technological innovation, and social reinterpretation reconfigured the intellectual landscape. Dewey rendered his world intelligible through three important "moral ideas": (1) The voice and the perspective of "the other" is an essential source for…

The purpose of this paper, states the author, is to revive and reconstruct John Dewey's pragmatism so that it becomes an alerting and inspiring voice in response to the nihilistic crisis of today's democracy and education. In other words this is a Deweyan task of reconstruction in philosophy, and it prompts the present endeavor in the continuing…

Cosmopolitanism in 2009 is arguably the philosophical and social counterpart of the progressivism of 1909. In this article, the author argues that John Dewey's pragmatism has (at least) two valuable lessons for the theory and practice of cosmopolitanism. After situating Dewey in the current discussion of cosmopolitanism and locating this…