John Dewey (October 20, 1859 - June 1, 1952) was an American
philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have
been influential in education and social reform. He is regarded as one
of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the
twentieth century.
The overriding theme of Dewey's works was his profound belief in
democracy, be it in politics, education, or communication and
journalism. As Dewey himself stated in 1888, while still at the
University of Michigan, "Democracy and the one, ultimate, ethical ideal
of humanity are to my mind synonymous." Known for his advocacy of
democracy, Dewey considered two fundamental elements--schools and civil
society--to be major topics needing attention and reconstruction to
encourage experimental intelligence and plurality. Dewey asserted that
complete democracy was to be obtained not just by extending voting
rights but also by ensuring that there exists a fully formed public
opinion, accomplished by communication among citizens, experts, and
politicians, with the latter being accountable for the policies they
adopt.
Dewey was one of the primary figures associated with the philosophy of
pragmatism and is considered one of the fathers of functional
psychology. His paper "The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology," published
in 1896, is regarded as the first major work in the (Chicago)
functionalist school. A Review of General Psychology survey, published
in 2002, ranked Dewey as the 93rd most cited psychologist of the 20th
century.
Dewey was also a major educational reformer for the 20th century. A
well-known public intellectual, he was a major voice of progressive
education and liberalism. While a professor at the University of
Chicago, he founded the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where
he was able to apply and test his progressive ideas on pedagogical
method. Although Dewey is known best for his publications about
education, he also wrote about many other topics, including
epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics, art, logic, social theory, and
ethics. (wikipedia.org)
