Reconstruction in Philosophy

Though best remembered today as a philosopher of early-childhood education through his influential 1899 work The School and Society and the essay "The Child and the Curriculum," John Dewey also expended considerable thought on the progress of philosophy itself. In this striking book, first published just after the First World War in 1920, Dewey considers how, why, and when human affairs should prompt a new approach to concepts of morality and justice. How should the revelations of science in the 20th century, and its consequential technology, impact human thought? Is seeing knowledge as power philosophical supportable and desirable? Must we redefine what it means to be "idealist"? Where do politics and philosophy intersect? Dewey's bracing explorations of these questions, and others, continue to enthrall thinking people --and continue to be vitally relevant--nearly a century after they were written. American educator and philosopher JOHN DEWEY (1859-1952) helped found the American Association of University Professors. He served as professor of philosophy at Columbia University from 1904 to 1930 and authored numerous books, including Experience and Nature (1925), Experience and Education (1938), and Freedom and Culture (1939).