Becoming John Dewey: Dilemmas of a Philosopher and Naturalist - Hardcover

by Thomas Dalton (Author)

As one of America's "public intellectuals," John Dewey was engaged in a lifelong struggle to understand the human mind and the nature of human inquiry. According to Thomas C. Dalton, the successful pursuit of this mission demanded that Dewey become more than just a philosopher; it compelled him to become thoroughly familiar with the theories and methods of physics, psychology, and neurosciences, as well as become engaged in educational and social reform. Tapping archival sources and Dewey's extensive correspondence, Dalton reveals that Dewey had close personal and intellectual ties to scientists and scholars who helped form the mature expression of his thought. Dewey's relationships with F. M. Alexander, Henri Matisse, Niels Bohr, Myrtle McGraw, and Lawrence K. Frank, among others, show how Dewey dispersed pragmatism throughout American thought and culture.

Author Biography

Thomas C. Dalton is Senior Research Associate with the Office of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He is co-author (with V. W. Bergenn) of Early Experience and the Brain: An Historical and Interdisciplinary Synthesis, and co-editor (with Rand Evans) of Reflections in the Mirror of Psychology's Past: Understanding Prominence and the Dynamics of Intellectual Change and (with V. W. Bergenn) of Beyond Heredity and Environment: Myrtle McGraw and the Maturation Controversy. His scholarly research interests include historical studies of the developmental sciences, theoretical studies of consciousness, and the philosophy of mind.