DEWEY, JOHN

born Oct. 20, 1859, Burlington, Vt., U.S. died June 1, 1952, New York, N.Y. American philosopher and educator who was one of the founders of the philosophical school of pragmatism, a pioneer in functional psychology, and a leader of the progressive movement in education in the United States. Additional reading George Dykhuizen, The Life and Mind of John Dewey (1973), provides a detailed account of Dewey's life and thought; it may be supplemented by Steven C. Rockefeller, John Dewey: Religious Faith and Democratic Humanism (1991), an intellectual biography. Studies focusing on his thought include Sidney Hook, John Dewey: An Intellectual Portrait (1939, reprinted 1971), a very readable and authoritative account of the several aspects of Dewey's philosophy; George R. Geiger, John Dewey in Perspective (1958, reprinted 1974), an exposition of Dewey's philosophy in the light of the misunderstandings and distortions which have centred about it; Richard J. Bernstein, John Dewey (1966, reprinted 1981), an illuminating study of the leading ideas of Dewey's philosophy; Jo Ann Boydston (ed.), Guide to the Works of John Dewey (1970), a collection of essays by Deweyan scholars each introducing the reader to a particular area of Dewey's thought; Neil Coughlan, Young John Dewey: An Essay in American Intellectual History (1975), a study of his early intellectual development; Steven M. Cahn (ed.), New Studies in the Philosophy of John Dewey (1977), on various aspects of his thought; Gary Bullert, The Politics of John Dewey (1983), on his political activism; and Paul Arthur Schilpp and Lewis Edwin Hahn (eds.), The Philosophy of John Dewey, 3rd ed. (1989), which contains, in addition to a biographical sketch of Dewey, a collection of essays by different authors (each a critical study of some aspect of Dewey's philosophy), a concluding essay by Dewey in response to his critics, and a bibliography of Dewey's writings.