New Education and Dewey´s Pragmatism

Abstract

This study examines the concept of education in John Dewey’s philosophy of pragmatism. Dewey addressed education as it related to the development of American democracy. He considered democracy to be the fundamental pillar of democratic society, and not only understood democracy as a political system, but as a way of life. Dewey’s concept of education is based on the epistemology of pragmatism: he rejects the traditional division of theory and practice; truth is not something given in advance but is the result of experimental science. The barrier isolating doing from knowledge should be eliminated. Dewey emphasizes doing and social interaction, and therefore tends towards operationalism and experimentalism. This leads to a reassessment and rejection of the existing philosophical tradition represented primarily by Plato, Aristotle and Kant. Pragmatism rejects metaphysics, Christianity, and embraces biological evolutionism with all of its implications for education. Dewey’s revolution in American education is intended to be entirely in the service of democracy and its values. Unlike traditional concepts of education, which were primarily concerned with educating the elite, Dewey desires a social and political transformation of the world strongly shaped by social policy. Dewey develops his concept based on the historical optimism stemming from the Enlightenment, many aspects of which he himself criticized. The present study recapitulates the basic thoughts of Dewey’s concept of education and shows its limits.