John Dewey’s Contribution to the Contemporary Philosophical Thought Essay

John Dewey is a prominent philosopher and educator of the 19th-20th centuries. His ideas made serous impact on the contemporary philosophical though. His ideas concerning the education made a significant contribution to the development educational system. Dewey’s ideas can be attributed to pragmatism.  Dewey’s pragmatism, instrumentalism and consequentialism gave new direction to the philosophical thought and helped to create new links between   reality and theoretical philosophical investigations.

Dewey was born in Vermont in the middle-class family  in 1859.  He attended the University of Vermont. After the graduation Dewey worked as a school teacher, but soon he found out that work in the primary or secondary learning institutions did not satisfy him.  In 1984 Dewey joined the University of Chicago.  During his work at the University Dewey wrote several philosophical essays. In addition, he made investigation in the field of education and used educational methods which made the essence of his further educational theory. In 1905 Dewey was elected the president of the American Psychological Association. From 1904 till 1930 he worked as professor of philosophy at the Columbia University. Dewey investigated basic philosophical themes in his researchers.  He was interested in philosophical questions, educational questions and politics.  His works on the theme of social relations gave him popularity as the specialist in social studies.

Dewey turned to  Rational Empiricism in the beginning of his philosophical search. He rejected philosophical teachings, such as metaphysics and epistemology in favor of pragmatism. Pragmatism views knowledge as an adaptive mechanism of human organisms. According to pragmatism knowledge is necessary to help people survive.Dewey pointed out that his colleagues philosophers made their researches too theoretical. He pointed out that traditional epistemologists made a great distinction between the knowledge they studied and real life. According to Dewey they separated their knowledge from reality, and his work was aimed to destroy this distinction and make knowledge applicable to real life.

Dewey believed that philosophical inquiry should not consist of passive observation. It should rather be centered on the ideas which reflect true reality and help people adapt to it. Dewey was interested in discovering the mechanism which results in successful actions. He believed that all human actions are directed in order to adapt to the surrounding in the best way. Dewey viewed these mechanisms as basic mechanisms which regulate human behavior. Dewey showed adherence to modern rationalism. He liked Descartes’s ideas about the nature of the mind and innate ideas. He also turns to Hegelian idealism in his early works. He uses Hegel’s works to prove the connection between thoughts and reality. Later he gradually rejects Hegelian idealism and turns to other methods of inquiry.

Dewey was interested in the theory of knowledge. In his research he tried to find the nature of human knowledge and different mechanisms which regulate it. Dewey rejected the term “epistemology” and use the term “theory of inquiry” to describe his approach.

 Dewey became impressed by Darwin’s theory of natural selection. According to him, this theory reflected the most natural way of development and this theory could be used as an inspiration in his philosophical search. Dewey used a lot of ideas expressed by Darwin. Dewey become the first one to view the thinking process from the genetic perspective. He regarded thinking process as an interaction between an individual and environment. At this point knowledge became the instrument which regulated this interaction. Dewey added his genetic analysis to the comparatively new theory of pragmatism. This analysis expanded the theory of pragmatism and gave it additional theoretical explanations.

Dewey dedicated his time and effort to the investigation of different adaptive behaviors and thinning patterns which helped people resolve different problematic situations. Dewey underlined that the existence of language gave people a perfect opportunity to investigate these mechanisms.  Dewey applied his theoretical investigations into his theoretical works. His essays explain his ideas of interactive naturalism and pragmatism. Dewey used his own methods of investigation in order to overcome the gap between the theory of knowledge and reality. All Dewey’s works and all his investigation were directed in order to illustrate his main thesis about the close interaction between the knowledge, thinking and reality. Practical application of all data became the main measure of his research.  

Dewey believed pragmatic theory of truth to be the central point of the pragmatic school. In contrast to the theory of truth, which was applied by philosopher before, Dewey and James (the founder of Pragmatism philosophical school) believed that the term “truth” could be applied to those ideas which correspond to reality and find practical application.  This practical application became the main distinction from the previous definition of truth, applied by philosophers earlier. Dewey made an accent on practical application of any thoughts and ideas and made this application the main measure of   truthfulness. According to him, only those ideas which results in successful actions can be called true ideas. Dewey also applied the principles of instrumentalism to the logical theory.

Dewey himself often described his philosophical approach as instrumentalism. He pointed out that pragmatism and instrumentalism has a lot in common. Philosophical school of consequentialism, which was founded later also followed ideas of pragmatism and instrumentalism.

John Dewey made a considerable contribution to different spheres of knowledge. His ideas in philosophy, education, political studies and social studies create new perspectives in the research field and in the practical application. Dewey made practical application the main measure of his research work. He checked all his ideas using pragmatic approach. Dewey made a considerable contribution to the contemporary philosophical though. Pragmatism and instrumentalism, as well as consequentialism became recognized philosophical schools which still possess a lot of followers.

References

Dykhuizen, G.  (1973). The Life and Mind of John Dewey. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

Hickman, Larry A., ed. (1998). Reading Dewey: Interpretations for a Postmodern Generation. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

Sleeper, R. (1987).The Necessity of Pragmatism: John Dewey’s Conception of Philosophy. New York: Yale University Press.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

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freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
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[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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