The 12 original essays included here locate Dewey's major works within their historical context and present a timely re-evaluation of each of the major areas of his broad philosophical reach.
John Dewey (1859 - 1952) was the dominant voice in American philosophy through the World Wars, the Great Depression, and the nascent years of the Cold War. With a professional career spanning three generations and a profile that no public intellectual has operated on in the U.S. since, Dewey's biographer Robert Westbrook accurately describes him as "the most important philosopher in modern American history." In this superb and engaging introduction, Steven Fesmire begins with a chapter on Dewey’s life and works, before discussing and assessing Dewey's key ideas across the major disciplines in philosophy; including metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, ethics, educational philosophy, social-political philosophy, and religious philosophy. This is an invaluable introduction and guide to this deeply influential philosopher and his legacy, and essential reading for anyone coming to Dewey's work for the first time.
Annotation In this provocative book, Philip W. Jackson examines John Dewey's thinking about the arts and its implications for educational practices. Jackson discusses Dewey's aesthetic theory, considers the transformative power of the experience of art, and shows in specific instances how the application of Dewey's view of the arts would improve learning experiences.
Features productive (re)interpretations of 21st century experience using the lens of Dewey’s Art as Experience, through putting an array of international philosophers, educators, and artists-researchers in transactional dialogue and on equal footing in an academic text.
Vicki Myron follows up her #1 New York Times bestseller Dewey with stories of cats who inspire their owners and includes two brand-new Dewey stories! Dewey's Nine Lives offers nine funny, inspiring, and heartwarming stories about cats—all told from the perspective of "Dewey's Mom," librarian Vicki Myron. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World was a blockbuster bestseller and a publishing phenomenon. It has sold nearly a million copies, spawned three children's books, and will be the basis for an upcoming movie. No doubt about it, Dewey has created a community. Dewey touched readers everywhere, who realized that no matter how difficult their lives might seem, or how ordinary their talents, they can-and should-make a positive difference to those around them. Now, Dewey is back, with even more heartwarming moments and life lessons to share. The amazing felines in this book include Dewey, of course, whose further never-before-told adventures are shared, and several others who Vicki found out about when their owners reached out to her. Vicki learned, through extensive interviews and story sharing, what made these cats special, and how they fit into Dewey's community of perseverance and love. From a divorced mother in Alaska who saved a drowning kitten on Christmas Eve to a troubled Vietnam veteran whose heart was opened by his long relationship with a rescued cat, these Dewey-style stories will inspire readers to laugh, cry, care, and, most importantly, believe in the magic of animals to touch individual lives.
Today's growing national concern about education centers on the paramount importance of teaching reading and writing. This volume offers a rigorous examination of reading and the pedagogy of reading critically. The book examines the crucial role of reading in the education of the child for the year 2000 and explores the history of reading and readers in America while surveying the attendant literacy debates. The author examines the historical progress of American reading instruction, demonstrating that how one is taught to read not only determines what one will read, but also what is permissible to read, and how pedagogies of reading define reading publics. An important chapter focuses on reading as a process of identity construction that creates not only a text but shapes the person who reads that text. The book also describes reading as a psychological process in which the creative act of manipulating the text produces the self and the world. A final chapter discusses reading as the center of the educational system and examines methodologies. An index is provided.
The sesquicentennial of the birth of John Dewey is in 2009. In recognition of this occasion, John Dewey at One Hundred-Fifty: Reflections for a New Century, with contributors drawn from the members of the John Dewey Society, will be published as both a journal issue and a book. The papers will appear as an issue of the Society's journal, Education and Culture, in late fall 2009, and as a book by Purdue University Press.
John Dewey’s Metaphysical Theory provides an overview and technical exposition of Dewey’s mature ontological theory. In particular, “nature,” “experience,” and their relationship, are given extended treatment through a close reading of primary texts. Following Dewey’s metaphysical postulates and conclusions, the book suggests how experience may reveal the fundamental traits of nature. In addition, the book reveals how Dewey understood the ways in which all phenomena may relate within an inclusive economy of existence, what it means to have an “identity,” what constitutes “selfhood” or personality, and how metaphysics relates to the ideals of democracy and social ethics.
Harriet K. Cuffaro offers a detailed account of how the educational philosophy of John Dewey may be translated into the everyday life of the classroom. Particular attention is given to "learning from experience" -- a fundamental concept in early education -- and the complexities involved in experiential learning.