Abstract

This dissertation is an historical examination of the complexities of Dewey's social, political and educational thought as revealed primarily through his correspondence. The inquiry seeks to reveal historical, political, and intellectual themes in Dewey's correspondence, especially as these themes relate to Dewey's liberal purposes and to his concern for education as an instrumental force in promoting democratic culture. The focus of this dissertation is on Dewey's critical reflections of the evolution of his own ideas in light of the turmoil of the first half of the twentieth century. Dewey's concerns for the political and economic well being of democractic society inspired his pioneering social activism and the progressive reforms he would seek in his later career. ;While the emphasis is on Dewey's personal correspondence, his published writings are also utilized. In the late forties, Dewey collaborated with Arthur Bentley on what would be his last large-scale intellectual endeavor, Knowing and the Known.$\sp1$ This collaboration had a strong influence on Dewey's conception of the role of language in framing our understanding of culture. However, the texts that best reveal the changes that occurred in the final years of Dewey's life are not those that resulted from the collaboration between Dewey and Bentley. The most interesting changes in Dewey's thought are revealed in the letters he wrote to a young and intellectually enthusiastic lawyer from New York, John Graves. Dewey's letters to Graves provide a refreshing new perspective on his sense of the connections between knowledge, experience, culture, science, and value. This new perspective provides a central focus for the dissertation. ftn$\sp1$John Dewey, Knowing and the Known, The Later Works of John Dewey: 1925-1953, Vol. 16, 1949-1952