America's Public Philosopher

John Dewey (1859–1952) was a philosopher, psychologist, educational reformer, and public intellectual. He was a founder of a distinctly American philosophical tradition, pragmatism, and a progressive thinker who spoke out widely on the most important questions of his day.Eric Thomas Weber is associate professor of educational policy studies and evaluation at the University of Kentucky. He is the author of Uniting Mississippi: Democracy and Leadership in the South (2015) and Democracy and Leadership: On Pragmatism and Virtue (2013), among other books. He is executive director of the Society of Philosophers in America and cohost of the Philosophy Bakes Bread radio show and podcast.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Democratic Faith and Education in Unstable Times, by Eric Thomas WeberPart I: Democracy and the United States1. Democracy Is Radical2. Address to National Negro Conference3. A Symposium on Woman’s Suffrage4. The Challenge of Democracy to Education5. America in the World6. Our National Dilemma7. Pragmatic America8. The Basic Values and Loyalties of Democracy9. Creative Democracy—The Task Before UsPart II: Politics and Power10. Politics and Culture11. Intelligence and Power12. Force, Violence, and the Law13. Why I Am Not a Communist14. Dualism and the Split Atom15. Is There Hope for Politics?16. A Liberal Speaks Out for Liberalism17. Future of LiberalismPart III: Education18. What Is a School For?19. Dewey Outlines Utopian Schools20. Industrial Education—A Wrong Kind21. Why Have Progressive Schools?22. Can Education Share in Social Reconstruction?23. Nationalizing Education24. The Teacher and the Public25. Democracy and Education in the World of TodayPart IV: Social Ethics and Economic Justice26. Capitalistic or Public Socialism?27. Does Human Nature Change?28. The Ethics of Animal Experimentation29. Ethics and International Relations30. Dewey Describes Child’s New World31. The Collapse of a Romance32. The Economic Situation: A Challenge to Education33. The Jobless—A Job for All of UsPart V: Science and Society34. The Influence of Darwinism on Philosophy35. Science, Belief and the Public36. Social Science and Social Control37. Education and Birth Control38. The Supreme Intellectual Obligation39. The Revolt against SciencePart VI: Philosophy and Culture40. The Case of the Professor and the Public Interest41. Social Absolutism42. Some Factors in Mutual National Understanding43. The Basis for Hope44. Art as Our Heritage45. The Value of Historical Christianity46. What Humanism Means to MeReferencesIndex

In these troubled times, Eric Thomas Weber has compiled a magnificent set of essays by John Dewey, the preeminent American public philosopher of the twentieth century. With the help of Weber’s commentaries, all Americans will be able to see how Dewey still speaks to us today, with wisdom and urgency.