riculum (1902) were important works from this
period.
Dewey next joined the department of philosophy at
Columbia University in 1904, where he taught until his
retirement in 1930. During his tenure at Columbia,
Dewey became deeply involved in social issues and
political affairs. He traveled and lectured extensively
and published widely in both popular and academic
journals. Dewey’s basic philosophical enterprise be-
came associated with the American school of PRAGMA-
TISM. Dewey was critical of metaphysical idealism,
stressing instead a naturalistic analysis of experience.
According to Dewey, there is no such thing as a fixed
human essence that is somehow independent of larger
natural processes. Rather, human beings are fully
immersed in diverse natural and cultural environments,
and human life consists of a plurality of interrelated
experiences and situations that possess unique, qualita-
tive characteristics. Experience as a whole is defined by
the “transactions” that occur in nature between organ-
ism and environment.
Dewey also developed comprehensive theories of
ETHICSand DEMOCRACY. In his ethical theory, Dewey
adopted an experimental approach that he viewed as
being similar to the methodology of the natural sci-
ences. Rejecting traditional metaphysical accounts of
divine or cosmic sources of absolute values, Dewey
insisted on the plurality of moral criteria that can be
generated as functional principles of social action.
According to Dewey’s theory of “instrumentalism,”
concepts are formed and used as tools for testing
hypotheses and solving problems. In a similar fashion,
values are created in response to the obtaining of satis-
factory results in our choices of actions and objects. In
other words, the activity of valuation refers to value
judgments about actions and objects that yield satis-
faction and therefore are considered desirable in terms
of how we think we should live. Considerations of
moral action can then be addressed by positing experi-
mental hypotheses about the consequences of pre-
scribed behavior under certain conditions. Those plans
of action that lead to the preferred situation can be
used to modify and resolve problematic circumstances.
Dewey was clear, however, that the search for solutions
to moral dilemmas must be carried out through a
social process, a public exchange of concerns, alterna-
tives, and analyses. Moral deliberation necessarily
involves social communication if consensus is to be
reached. In this way, Dewey appealed to what he called
“democracy as a way of life.”
For Dewey’s social and political philosophy, it was
vitally important to take seriously the role of the
community in the lives of individuals. If individual
and group conflict is to be resolved, communication
and consensus must replace dogmatism and ABSO-
LUTISM. For this reason, Dewey emphasized the role of
education in DEMOCRACY. As mentioned above, Dewey
considered democracy to be much more than the
presence of certain political procedures and insti-
tutions; it is a way of life. In The Public and its Prob-
lems(1927) and in other works, Dewey noted that a
successfully functioning democracy requires that its
citizens develop habits that enable them to communi-
cate, to learn, to compromise, to respect others, and
to tolerate the variety of norms and interests that
exist in a shared social life. Social cooperation rather
than extreme individualism is a fundamental compo-
nent of a democracy that is able to liberate the capaci-
ties of each person. Against the SOCIAL-CONTRACT
tradition of HOBBESand LOCKE, Dewey argued that the
human individual is a social being from the start and
that individual achievement can only be realized
through the collective means of social institutions
and practices.Further Reading
Westbrook, R. B. John Dewey and American Democracy.Ithaca,
N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1991.dialectic/dialectical
A philosophical view that knowledge derives from
knowing reality as a whole that encompasses opposites
or contradictions. Originally developed in Eastern
mystical religion and philosophy as the “yin/yang”
perspective, this dialectical approach most affected
Western political thought in HEGEL, MARXISM, COMMU-
NISM, and FASCISM.
The dialectical view or logic claims that reality or
things include opposites. A single day, for example,
includes daytime and nighttime, light and dark. So the
whole consists of two different elements, which give
definition to each other—man/woman; husband/wife;
child/parent; student/teacher; and so on. No single
thing can be completely known except by reference to
its “other,” or opposite. It is simply understanding the
way things relate to other things within a comprehen-
sive universe.
The German philosopher Hegel applied this East-
ern religion to history, claiming that the clashing of84 dialectic/dialectical