CONTRIBUTIONS of John DEWEY to philosophy, education and politics

Today's class is dedicated to the American pedagogue and philosopher John dewey (1859-1952), one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century and one of the top representatives of philosophical pragmatism. Without a doubt, Dewey has gone down in the history of philosophy as one of the most prolific philosophers, highlighting his contributions to political philosophy and education (theory of ideas).

All this, embodied in his works Education and Democracy (1916), Reconstruction of Philosophy (1920), Experience and Nature (1925) Theory of Valuation: a debate with positivism on the dichotomy of facts and values ​​(1927), Art as experience (1935) and Freedom and culture (1939). If you want to know more about John Dewey's contributions to philosophy keep reading this lesson from a TEACHER Let's get started!

Index

1. Pragmatism, Dewey's philosophical current
2. John Dewey's main contributions to philosophy
3. Dewey's humanistic naturalism

Before talking about Dewey's contributions, we must first explain the philosophical current in which he fits, the philosophical pragmatism. Which, was born around 1870 by the hand of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), in United States. This philosophical current affirms that philosophical and scientific knowledge can only be considered true based on its practical consequences. Hence, it is stated that theory is always obtained through intelligent practice.

Characteristics of pragmatism

Likewise, pragmatism is characterized by:

• States that that which has a practical value is true and the true is reduced to the useful. Therefore, the value of things is defined depending on their consequences and according to the success they have in practice = utility.
• For this current the function of The philosophy is to generate or create knowledge practical and useful.
• He claims that the truth It is the instrument of knowledge and thought is valid when it is useful for our ways of life and needs. Point with which Dewey disagrees.
• He maintains that the investigation It must be communal and self-critical, which must be aimed at replacing doubts, invite progress, which must be carried out through an experimental / empirical method and which must be destined to solve problems.
• Maintains that experience is he process by which the individual reaches the information.
• The influence of evolutionism from Darwin it is key in the theses of pragmatism.

John Dewey's contributions to philosophy lie in two specific fields, education and politics. Whose theses are found in three of his most important works Education and Democracy (1916), Teoría de la valuation: a debate with positivism on the dichotomy of facts and values ​​(1927) and Libertad y cultura (1939).

John Dewey's contributions to education

Dewey's most important contribution is that of the insertion of education in philosophy and, in this sense, his theory of knowledgeor learning. Which is supported by three key points:

1. Learning through experience and everyday experiences: Experience is the process by which the individual reaches the information and the one that gives us the necessary material for us to generate knowledge, always through interaction and experimentation (instrumentalism).
2. Social life is key to development: You must learn from any area of ​​life.
3. Promote the independence of research: You must learn to investigate and undertake your own investigations to obtain your own findings.

“The experience occurs continuously because the interaction of the living creature and the conditions that surround it is involved in the very process of life. In conditions of resistance and conflict, we determine aspects of the self and the world involved in this interaction requalify the experience with emotions and ideas. "

Likewise, Dewey states:

• The permanent encouragement of the child is key to her learning.
• The student must always participate in their learning process and not just limit themselves to receiving information. Thus, the student must be an active subject and learn by himself.
• Error is a means of learning.
• The scientific spirit must be fostered = Learn to discover.
• The school should not be only a place to learn, but a setting in which the student develops, a place in which the critical spirit is fostered, in which it is taught to question, to exchange points of view and to to debate.
• The main objective and function of philosophy is to reflect on education.

John Dewey's contributions to political philosophy

For Dewey, the democracy is the fundamental system of government, by which, personality must be developed (institutions create the individual), ethics, the freedom of the individual (their individuality) and encourage the participation of all (men and women = through the right to vote). In addition, he affirms that the diversity of perspectives and traditions are evident and that, therefore, they must be respected and approached from the perspective of dialogue and democracy.

Likewise, for him the democracy and philosophy are united and linked: philosophy through education can contribute key values ​​for the development of democracy and leads us to reflect on what has been established.

Among Dewey's thesis highlights his humanistic naturalism (Reconstruction of philosophy, Experience and nature, Art as experience), influenced by Darwin evolutionism, and according to which thought and behavior of the human being are inseparable and have their origin in a double matrix, the biological and cultural:

• The biological matrix: Thought is the result of the human being's own biological evolution and, therefore, behavior is generated based on the relationship that the individual has with the environment.
• The cultural matrix: Thought also has a cultural root, since it is also a communicative and social fact; the human being is framed in a social whole and language is one of his greatest values ​​to transmit and share his experiences and his value system. For this reason, the cultural matrix can modify the biological one.

Likewise, the human thought is an instrument that evolves in nature and that is used to move from a given situation to a new situation more coherent, through the enrichment of the system of meanings that is built in the individual (Instrumentalism).

And it is that, according to Dewey, the human being lives in crisis / ambiguity and, in this sense, philosophy appears as what should direct the individual in life, therefore, for our protagonist philosophy would have a directive function.

If you want to read more articles similar to John Dewey: contributions to philosophy, we recommend that you enter our category of Philosophy.

Hook, S.John Dewey, intellectual profile. Paidos. 2000

Sini, C. Pragmatism. Akal. 1999.