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john dewey philosophy education
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In The Public and Its Problems, a book on social and political philosophy, John Dewey displays his beliefs of the potential of human intelligence to solve the public's problems. From his own perspective, Dewey makes clear the meaning and implications of such concepts as "the public," "the state," "government," and "political democracy."
Dewey’s explains all of this by showing differences between the "state," which is represented by selected lawmakers, and the "public," the diffuse, a body of citizens who generally choose the people for the state. The public is called when individuals experience the negative consequences of exchanges beyond their control (such as market or governmental activities). The public is made up of people whose similar interest is fixated on dissolving these negative externalities through legislation; in fact, Dewey believes that a public does not really exist until a negative externality calls it into being.
Dewey declares that this occurs when people can begin to comprehend how the results of indirect actions affect them as a whole: “Indirect, extensive, enduring and serious consequences of conjoint and interacting behavior call a public into existence having a common interest in controlling these consequences” (Dewey, 126).Therefore, a public only develops when it has purpose and comes together around a subject of significance or of importance.
Dewey reluctantly acknowledges the arguments of other opponents of modern democracy such as, Walter Lippman. Dewey believes there are influential forces that work in order to conceal the public and stop it from clearly defining its needs. For example, Dewey explains how special interest, controlling corporate wealth, numbing and diverting entertainment, common...
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...e the “Great Community.” He writes, “Without such communication the public will remain shadowy and formless…Till the Great Society is converted into a Great Community, the Public will remain in eclipse. Communication can alone create a great community” (Dewey, 142).
Overall, John Dewey’s The Public and Its Problems deals in large part with the problem of increasing access to scientific and specialized knowledge in a way that recognizes the ideals of democratic societies.
Most actions by and between people are private—which is to say they affect only the individuals in question and are of no legitimate interest to anyone else. But some activities on the part of individuals may have indirect consequences on others.
Work Cited
Dewey John. 1954. “The Public and Its Problems.” United States of America: Swallow Press/Ohio University Press Books.
1. Janda, Kenneth. The Challenge of Democracy. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA. 1999. (Chapter 3 & 4).
Janda, Kenneth. Berry, Jeffrey. Goldman, Jerry (2008). The Challenge of Democracy (9th ed.). Boston; New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
“A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals, has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, uses its participatory
Government by the People by James Burns, J.W. Peltason, and Thomas Cronin (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1984)
As we delve into the writings of Mr. John Dewey and Mr. Howard Zinn we notice a shared theme between the two authors, balance. However, both philosophers view the approach to reaching balance in different ways. In Zinn’s article The Uses of Scholarship, Zinn states that knowledge is a form of power. I find a great deal of truth in this statement. The presidential election of 2016 is on the rise. With that being said, even the most uninformed voter will elect the candidate he/she feels is the most knowledgeable to run our country, the candidate he/she feels is the most qualified to become the leader of our free world. Zinn writes that these people we elect in power, keep control by setting rules that are upheld by modern society. Zinn does not
Thomas Jefferson believed that democracy was the best way to guarantee that a government ensured its people’s natural rights. He believed that an educated people, free from mandated intellectual influences, economic dependence, and requirements of privileged birth, would be capable of protecting their own rights. However, not all aspects of his beliefs came to fruition in his
The United States is run by a democracy. There are many pieces to democracy that must be in good health in order for democracy to be effective and work. In this essay I will critique some of the most important parts of democracy in America and go deeper. I will first focus on the strengths of United States democracy and then I will dive into categories of democracy that I believe to not be thriving. I believe that the current conditions of United States democracy are becoming a hindrance to this nation, because the opinions and freedoms the public possess are being stripped away through poor media, education, and economy.
Works Cited Hudson, William E. American Democracy in Peril: Eight Challenges to America’s Future – Fourth Edition. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2004. Landy, Marc and Sidney M. Milkis. American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights.
Burns, James MacGregor, J.W Peltason, Thomas E. Cronin, and David B. Magleby. Government By The People. 01-02 Edition ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002
By the late eighteenth century, the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason as it was called had begun to rapidly spread across Europe. People began believing in the ideals of popular government, the centrality of economics to politics, secularism, and progress. This cultural movement was sparked by intellectuals and commonwealth thinkers such as the influential writer John Locke and the famous scientist Isaac Newton, both who emphasized the fact that man, by the use of reason, would be able to solve all of his problems-whether it be problems with the government, morals or the society. However, these ideals weren’t just limited to the European nations where they had first begun. On the other side of the world, off in the United States, American intellectuals began to reason with these ideas as well. As a result, the influence on the profound of modern economic and political thought had a huge impact on the United States, resulting in one of the most important documents in known in American history; the Constitution.
Barry, Brian. "Is Democracy Special?" in Philosophy, Politics, & Society, 5th Series, ed. Peter Laslett & James Fishkin. Hew Haven: Yale University Press, 1979.
Lastly Mills highlights how a truly democratic state can be achieved. There is a need for a public that acts a medium for true political change, skilled men who form the higher powers of the state and have no vested corporate interests, dependable parties that debate openly and lucidly the problems faced by the world and finally liberated institutions between the public and the elite that act as proponent for the public opinion.
Robert Kelley, “Public History: Its Origins, Nature, and Prospects,” PH 1 (August 1978): 16-28 https://troy.blackboard.com/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_17_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_369657_1%26url%3D (accessed February 15, 2014).
Should the most selfish elite individual take heed and meditate on the ideology behind community, he/she may awaken to the fact that many persons looking after one person has more advantages and a better survival rate than one trying to preserve one. The needs of the one will never outweigh the needs of the collective group. In the end individuality inevitably leads to self-destruction; therefore, commitment to community is a requirement for contemporary Americans and vital to its survival.
Dewey, John, and Reginald D. Archambault. John Dewey on education; selected writings.. New York: Modern Library, 1964. Print.