Educational Philosophy
Introduction | Life | Work
John Dewey
(Photograph from Colombia University Faculty Photograph Collection, c.1950)
Introduction
John Dewey (1859 - 1952) was a 20th Century American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer. Along withCharles Sanders Peirce and William James, he is recognized as one of the founders of the largely American philosophical school of Pragmatism and his own doctrine of Instrumentalism. He was also one of the fathers of Functionalism (or Functional Psychology), and a leading representative of the progressive movement in American education during the first half of the 20th Century.
He developed a broad body of work encompassing virtually all of the main areas of philosophy, and wrote extensively on social issues in popular publications, gaining a reputation as a leading social commentator of his time.
Life
Dewey was born on 20 October 1859 in Burlington, Vermont, the third of four sons born to Archibald Sprague Dewey (who owned a grocery store) and Lucina Artemesia (née Rich) (a devoutly religious woman), of modest family origins. He attended the University of Vermont in Burlington, and graduated in 1879. During this time, he was exposed to evolutionary theory, and the theory of natural selection continued to have a life-long impact upon Dewey's thought. Although the philosophy teaching at Vermont was somewhat limited, his teacher, H. A. P. Torrey, a learned scholar with broad philosophical interests and sympathies, was decisive in Dewey's philosophical development.
After graduating in 1879, he worked for two years as a high school teacher in Oil City, Pennsylvania, but then borrowed money from his aunt in order to enter graduate school in philosophy at the School of Arts & Sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Two teachers in particular had a lasting influence on him: the German-trained Hegelian philosopher, George Sylvester Morris (1840 - 1899), and the experimental psychologist, Granville Stanley
John Dewey
(Photograph from Colombia University Faculty Photograph Collection, c.1950)
Introduction
John Dewey (1859 - 1952) was a 20th Century American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer. Along withCharles Sanders Peirce and William James, he is recognized as one of the founders of the largely American philosophical school of Pragmatism and his own doctrine of Instrumentalism. He was also one of the fathers of Functionalism (or Functional Psychology), and a leading representative of the progressive movement in American education during the first half of the 20th Century.
He developed a broad body of work encompassing virtually all of the main areas of philosophy, and wrote extensively on social issues in popular publications, gaining a reputation as a leading social commentator of his time.
Life
Dewey was born on 20 October 1859 in Burlington, Vermont, the third of four sons born to Archibald Sprague Dewey (who owned a grocery store) and Lucina Artemesia (née Rich) (a devoutly religious woman), of modest family origins. He attended the University of Vermont in Burlington, and graduated in 1879. During this time, he was exposed to evolutionary theory, and the theory of natural selection continued to have a life-long impact upon Dewey's thought. Although the philosophy teaching at Vermont was somewhat limited, his teacher, H. A. P. Torrey, a learned scholar with broad philosophical interests and sympathies, was decisive in Dewey's philosophical development.
After graduating in 1879, he worked for two years as a high school teacher in Oil City, Pennsylvania, but then borrowed money from his aunt in order to enter graduate school in philosophy at the School of Arts & Sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Two teachers in particular had a lasting influence on him: the German-trained Hegelian philosopher, George Sylvester Morris (1840 - 1899), and the experimental psychologist, Granville Stanley