John Dewey, Psychologist

Audio: A brief quote from John Dewey on how a nation can maintain a respected role in world politics.

--From Southern Illinois University, home of The Center for Dewey Studies.


Article: This article is interesting because it helps us bridge the gap between John Dewey's roles as philosopher and psychologist. It says that his way of thinking, as we have learned in class, was influenced by the rapid cultural change of his generation. As such, he believed that people could not use traditional morals to help them cope with the new problems of the industrial age. For example, he thought a supreme principle (like one of the Ten Commandments) was not the best guide for making an ethical decision. To him, people turned to these supreme ideas out of habit. Instead, he said that people should develop their own value judgments through trial and error. This was the most mature and socially responsible way to make a moral decision.

The article is, in part, a guide to understanding Dewey's philosophies on a societal level and on a personal, psychological level.

--From Stanford University's Encyclopedia of Philosophy