The Education of John Dewey: A Biography

Jay Martin

Published by Columbia University Press 2003

The Education of John Dewey

A Biography

Jay Martin

https://doi.org/10.7312/mart11676

Overview
Contents

About this book

Based on original sources, notably the vast collection of unpublished papers in the Center for Dewey Studies, this book tells the full story of the life and times of the eminent American philosopher, pragmatist, education reformer, and man of letters. His philosophy, Pragmatism, has been the distinctive American philosophy during the last fifty years and his work on education is still influential today.

During John Dewey's lifetime (1859-1952), one public opinion poll after another revealed that he was esteemed to be one of the ten most important thinkers in American history. His body of thought, conventionally identified by the shorthand word "Pragmatism," has been the distinctive American philosophy of the last fifty years. His work on education is famous worldwide and is still influential today, anticipating as it did the ascendance in contemporary American pedagogy of multiculturalism and independent thinking. His University of Chicago Laboratory School (founded in 1896) thrives still and is a model for schools worldwide, especially in emerging democracies. But how was this lifetime of thought enmeshed in Dewey's emotional experience, in his joys and sorrows as son and brother, husband and father, and in his political activism and spirituality? Acclaimed biographer Jay Martin recaptures the unity of Dewey's life and work, tracing important themes through the philosopher's childhood years, family history, religious experience, and influential friendships.

Based on original sources, notably the vast collection of unpublished papers in the Center for Dewey Studies, this book tells the full story, for the first time, of the life and times of the eminent American philosopher, pragmatist, education reformer, and man of letters. In particular, The Education of John Dewey highlights the importance of the women in Dewey's life, especially his mother, wife, and daughters, but also others, including the reformer Jane Addams and the novelist Anzia Yezierska. A fitting tribute to a master thinker, Martin has rendered a tour de force portrait of a philosopher and social activist in full, seamlessly reintegrating Dewey's thought into both his personal life and the broader historical themes of his time.

Author / Editor information

Jay Martin has written and edited twenty-one books, including authoritative biographies of Nathanael West, Henry Miller and Conrad Aiken; the standard history of American literature 1865-1914; a key psychoanalytic work on "fictive personality"; and autobiographical novels about the U.S.S.R. and the time he spent as a Buddhist monk in China. Formerly Leo S. Bing Professor of English at the University of Southern California, he is currently Edward S. Gould Professor of Humanities, former director of the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies of the Modern World, professor of government, and founder of the Questions of Civilization Program at Claremont McKenna College. He lives in Claremont, CA.

Reviews

Martin [has] written [an] excellent new biography... [that] aims to represent Dewey as an individual who was a thinker and reformer of international public influence... Martin's book will interest anyone seeking a personal biography of Dewey... Highly recommended.

Carlin Romano:
Martin's readable style and instinct for apt quotation—many new even to Dewey scholars—keeps his information flowing... The Education of John Dewey most pleases as an epic tale of an immortal multitasker, told with just the right mix of philosophical explanation, personal drama and historical context.

The major and minor facts of Dewey's long life... are engagingly presented. In addition, Martin has done a good job of researching some pertinent information about Dewey's life not found in the only other detailed biography.... Recommended.

Jo Ann Boydston:
Truly terrific...clearly comprehensive; it is the definitive biography of John Dewey.

Sturdy, thoughtful... solid overall.

Gilbert Taylor:
This will be the new standard biography of the great reformer's life.

Richard Rorty:
Martin's biography is a good, well-paced read.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
BOOK I. Emergence
Childhood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
The Christian Influence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
The Beginning of John Dewey’s Education Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
A Career in Teaching? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	46
A Career in Philosophy? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	58
Dewey’s Philosophic Influences Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	68
Becoming a Philosopher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
Finding Both a Philosophic Niche and a Job Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	80
Dewey in Love Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
Dewey’s Philosophy Expands Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
Dewey’s Reputation Builds Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
Fred Dewey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
To Minnesota and Back to Michigan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
Writing About Ethics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	120
A Utopian Deception Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
Family Life Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	132
Harper and the University of Chicago Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
BOOK II. Experience
Wealth and Poverty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
Evelyn Dewey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	154
Another Kind of Education Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	158
Morris Dewey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
Overworking at the University of Chicago Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
More Publications Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	186
Progressive Education Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
The Lab School Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Resignation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	210
Lucy Dewey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
Jane Dewey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	218
Columbia Comes to the Rescue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Back to Europe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	228
Starting Over Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	231
The Gorky Affair Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	238
Five Arcs of Activities Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	242
More Publications Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	250
Dewey’s Teaching Style Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	258
War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
New Restrictions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269
The Aftermath Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	275
The Polish Project Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	278
Alexander’s Influence on Dewey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
A Philadelphia Story Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	287
Dewey’s Interest in Poland Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293
BOOK III. Engagement
Alice’s Depression Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303
On to Japan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	310
China and “New Culture” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	314
No League and No War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327
Sabino Dewey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	330
Idealism Corrupted Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
Now to Turkey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	335
Then to Mexico Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	341
Losing Alice Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	344
Dewey Among the Soviets Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	350
Three More Books Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	358
The Gifford Lectures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	362
Enjoying Life Again Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	368
Dewey Turns Seventy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	371
The Stock Market Crash and Its Aftermath Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	376
Dewey’s Political Philosophy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	387
Dewey’s Interest in the Arts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	398
The Last Educational Mission Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	406
Leon Trotsky Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	407
Dewey’s Logic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	424
Dewey and Valuation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	431
Dewey’s Eightieth Birthday Celebration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	434
Education and Freedom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	439
Bertrand Russell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	442
More Controversies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	449
Further Views on Education Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	459
After the War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	464
John and Roberta Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	467
The Last Birthday Celebration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	475
The End Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	478
Last Words Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	488
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	505
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	511
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	539

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 592
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 50
- Other: 50 photos

eBook

Published: January 23, 2003
ISBN: 9780231507455