Abstract

Here analyse I the problem of the relation between tradition and innovation through John Dewey’s most significant writings on this topic. In order to do that, I focus not only on the basic Darwinian background of Dewey’s thought, which is clearly stated in his works of the new century , but on two main dichotomies that mark a great part of Dewey’s interests: mind-body and philosophy-science. The first one, mind-body, let me show as Dewey’s idea of transaction conveys to the most recent studies, mainly those on the role of emotion and on the concept of interaction . The first dichotomy recalls the second one, philosophy-science, which it belongs to. And both the dualisms stand for a big one: old logic versus new logic. We could solve the perennial dispute between tradition and innovation assuming the new logic as the place where they can profitably merge, if we pay attention to the interactions between mind and body, that is between ambience and humans, otherwise none of those dichotomies can be solved. So, I end up by posing a capital question: are logic, education, politics, and ethics properly developed to foster a beneficial interaction between minds and bodies, between milieus and people, between tradition and innovation?