RECONSTRUCTING DEWEYAN PRAGMATISM: A REVIEW ESSAY

In this essay Stefan Neubert argues that John Dewey was a philosopher of reconstruction and that the best use we can make of him today is to reconstruct his work in and for our own contexts. Neubert distinguishes three necessary and equally important components of the overall project of reconstructing Deweyan pragmatism: first, to make strong and productive use of the tradition; second, to establish new theoretical links in order to develop new conceptual tools; and third, to reconsider implications of Deweyan pragmatism with a view toward new articulations of human life experience. Neubert then discusses three recent publications in the field of Dewey scholarship—Larry Hickman's Pragmatism as Post-Postmodernism , Inna Semetsky's Deleuze, Education and Becoming , and David Granger's John Dewey, Robert Pirsig, and the Art of Living —as examples illustrating the importance of each component. During the course of this discussion, Neubert develops some conclusions about the complexity inherent in the comprehensive task of reconstructing Dewey's philosophy today.     

DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION IN THE TWENTY‐FIRST CENTURY: DEWEYAN PRAGMATISM AND THE QUESTION OF RACISM

Why is John Dewey still such an important philosopher today? Writing from the perspective of the Cologne Program of Interactive Constructivism, Stefan Neubert tries in what follows to give one possible answer to this question. Neubert notes that Cologne constructivism considers Dewey in many respects as one of the most important predecessors of present‐day constructivism and regards Deweyan pragmatism as one of its most important dialogue partners in contemporary discussions about pragmatism and constructivism in philosophy and education. Among the many aspects in which Dewey's works still speak powerfully to us today, Neubert highlights in this essay one theme that is at the heart of Dewey's philosophical approach: the relation between democracy and education.     

TEACHING FOR BELIEF: POWER AND PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE

The politics of pedology when teaching for belief in culturally diverse settings inevitably draws attention to the power dynamics in the encounters of teachers and students. The quest for a pedagogy that is not oppressive or coercive provides the impetus to a liberative proposal for teaching practice.     

RECONSTRUCTING DEWEYAN DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION FOR A GLOBALIZING WORLD

As democratic citizenship education gains importance worldwide, one wonders whether common civic education practices in the United States, such as mock elections, are adequate models for other countries, or whether they fall short of realizing the goal of promoting democracy in different regions and cultures. Despite various controversies, one fundamental question remains: How should we teach democracy? Should we teach it as a system of government or as a way of life? Jessica Ching‐Sze Wang finds inspiration in Dewey's life and works. She draws on Dewey's experience during the First World War and his insights into the connection between democracy and education to reconstruct a culturally and morally robust form of democratic education, as opposed to the politically dominated one currently being practiced. Wang concludes that Deweyan democratic education thus reconstructed can help us better realize democracy as a way of life for our globalizing world.     

LIVING THE QUESTIONS: RILKE'S CHALLENGE TO OUR QUEST FOR CERTAINTY

A bstract .  In this essay, Mordechai Gordon explores the significance of Rilke's challenge to "live the questions" and embrace uncertainty with respect to the quest for certainty in education. The quest for certainty in education refers to our desire to gain a sense of psychological security and more control over a field that is fundamentally indeterminate. This quest implies an unwillingness to live with the inherent complexities and risks of education. After exploring the meaning and import of Rilke's challenge and comparing it to the position of Socrates, Gordon uses Rilke's insight to analyze a specific educational experience and then discusses some of its educational implications for teacher education.     

工具理性与实用主义之辨

工具理性作为人类理性的重要内容,是指人们在行动中表现出来的对实现目的、理想而起着重要作用的手段、工具、途径以及具体方法等格外重视的思维方式和态度。它具有精确性和系统化、功利性和追求效益的最大化、现实性和实用性、独立性与进取性、法制化和标准化等特点。实用主义产生于19世纪70年代的美国,其中心范畴是“效益”、“效用”,它崇尚个人主义、利己主义。工具理性与实用主义虽然有一些相似之处,但却是有本质区别的。分清二者的不同,对于纠正我国现代化建设过程中存在的一些错误的思想认识意义重大。     

THE "KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH" AND EARLY CHICAGO PRAGMATISM

A bstract .  Pragmatism has been rediscovered in recent years and presented as emblematic of modern thinking. At the center of this worldwide interest in late-nineteenth century Pragmatism stood, first, a rejection of the traditional dualistic construction of the world in philosophy and psychology; second, a distinguishing of the findings of learning theory from those of evolutionary theory; and, third, a consideration of industrial democracy as the context of modern thinking and action. In this essay Daniel Tröhler shows that these innovations were far less secular than has generally been assumed. Underlying early Chicago Pragmatism is a reformed (Calvinist) Protestant mentality that was shaped by a vision of a common mission: realizing the "kingdom of God on earth"— a mentality that responded critically to the provocations of modernity (specifically, industrialization and capitalism) and, through this response, developed a distinctive discourse that came to be called "Pragmatism."     

DEWEYAN DARWINISM FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: TOWARD AN EDUCATIONAL METHOD FOR CRITICAL DEMOCRATIC ENGAGEMENT IN THE ERA OF THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES

A bstract .  Our society's preoccupation with making educational policy and practice "scientific" is attested to by the stated mission of the Institute of Education Sciences: "to provide rigorous evidence on which to ground education practice and policy." Early in the twentieth century, John Dewey also advocated for a vision of education guided by science, and more recent scholarship has validated many of his ideas. However, as Deborah Seltzer-Kelly argues in this essay, Dewey's vision of a scientifically based system of education was very different from that envisioned by the IES, and also very different from that implied by the progenitor of contemporary evolutionary thought, Donald Campbell. Seltzer-Kelly proposes a Deweyan Darwinist model of educational method as a genuinely scientific alternative to the scientism that pervades current official efforts to imbue education with science. The implications of this model are profound, highlighting the difference between education as preparation for consent to authoritarian structures and education as preparation for genuinely democratic participation.