Dewey, John (1859–1952)

The US educationalist John Dewey, photographed in 1919 at the age of 60 years. Dewey's celebrity as an educational reformer sometimes took him abroad. He was visiting lecturer in Peking (Beijing), China, in 1919 and 1931, he prepared a report for the Turkish government in 1924, and he spent time in Japan, Mexico, and the Soviet Union when gathering information on national differences.

US philosopher who believed that the exigencies of a democratic and industrial society demanded new educational techniques. He expounded his ideas in numerous writings, including School and Society 1899, and founded a progressive school in Chicago. A pragmatist thinker, influenced by William James, Dewey maintained that there is only the reality of experience and made ‘inquiry’ the essence of logic.

Dewey was born in Vermont and from 1904 was professor of philosophy at Columbia University, New York.

His other writings include Experimental Logic 1916, Reconstruction in Philosophy 1920, Quest for Certainty 1929, and Problems of Men 1946.