Very useful and informative book. Dewey set some of the philosophical standards of education in our country. Like it or not, the information is, like so much of philosophy, opinion based. You might also want to read Norman Thomas Remick's "West Point: Character Leadership Education, A Book Developed From The Readings And Writings Of Thomas Jefferson" for a general and non-opinionated view of education as seen through the eyes of America's and the world's greatest educational philosopher --- Thomas Jefferson.

Dewey is considered "America's only Philosopher" par exellence, but he wrote so much that is hard to get to the core of his philosophy. In any event, whether you want to understand Dewey's philosophical center or simply get a quick, concise overview of progressive, experience-based educational theory, this would be the book to start with. However, you might want to check out _John Dewey: The Later Works, 1938-1939_, edited by Jo A. Boydston. It not only contains "Experience and Education," but also "Freedom and Culture," "Theory of Valuation," and a handful of other essays. Not only does this volume give you more of Dewey, but Boydston puts the works in historical and philosophical context. This book [is available] in both cloth or paperback editions.

I'm reading this book for a class I'm taking called Theories of Education. I go to a progressive school, and it's really helped my clarify for myself what I like about my school. Whether you go to (or teach at) a progressive school or not, the insights gained by reading this book are invaluable.

John Dewey, as I've heard, was never comfortable with labels. Throughout his career he shifted from and to many rubrics: pragmatism, interactionism, instrumentalism, transactionism, experimentalism. Truth be told, all of these are present in "Reconstruction in Philosophy" and partly because of that, this is probably the best intro to Dewey available.

Dewy has a bone to pick with traditional philosophy. Not only has it lost track with real, as opposed to academic, problems (anyone walking down the street can tell us this) but it never really was that good at depicting real questions and descriptions anyway. Take comcepts like Plato's ideal forms and Kant's a priori. Neither of these are teneble in any realm of experience; rather, they were a misguided quest to explain the permanance and stability of the world.

Dewey's book is an attempt to pull the carpet out from under their feet; science and inquiry using its methods shows us that the world changes and if anything, stability is something that is felt by us - not inherent in the world. Thus a prioris, ideal forms, seperation of the noumenal and phenouminal amongst other current 'problems' in philosophy - all based on the idea of permanant/transitory dichotomy - are not only wearing thin, but are fast showing to be irrelevant. From this, he builds the groundwork of a philosophy in between rationalism and empiricism. Taking from rationalism an admiration and recognition of reason's power to direct action and combining it with empiricims fascination with experience, Dewey creates a philosophy that puts the spotlight not on one or the other, but on both as leading to and taking from eachother.

The first chapter are a philosophical survey of how philosophy went wrong; particularly in Ancient Greek and early Christian philosophy (both having a love affair with absolutes outside of experience). The second chapter focuses on the mistakes when philosophers, like Francis Bacon, widened the chasm between the real and experiential and the ideal and rational.

From here, Dewey proceeds piece by piece to show what was wrong and how to fix it by making clear tht scienctific inquiry (the equal interaction between subject and object) leaves no room for absolutes, forms or a prioris (or at least, not in any pragmatically useful sense). By extension, things like formal rules of logic above experience, non-experimentalism in moral or political theory and psychology that includes the individual without an equal part of the social; all of these become little more than unfounded but continually persisting glorifications.

For the reader interested in Dewey, naturalism, instrumentalism or the implications of pragmatism, this is a great introduction. From here, I suggest Dewey's "The Quest for Certainty" followed by "Experience and Nature", topped off with "Human Nature and Conduct".

Reconstruction in Philosophy presents a program for just that: a radical re-building of western philosophy. Dewey criticizes the current state of affairs as being tied to the past in ways that are no longer relevent to the current world. He traces the creation of various social institutions, then shows how these actions of ancient times, such as creation of ancient philosophical traditions (such as the idea of a split between "higher" and "lower" reality cf. Plato), which although useful in their time, now [slows] intellectual progress. Dewey puts forth the argument that much of modern philosophy (and human thought in general) is concerned with the same problems that the ancients were concerned with, although those problems are no longer relevent. Rather, philosophy should concern itself with current issues of social, economic, or political importance, and ask what can be done to improve them? Dewey's method is concerned with concrete solutions to concrete problems. Rather than over-broad generalizations about "the State" or "Life", we must ask think of answers to problems concerning this individual state, or that individual person. Likewise, he advocates dropping the notion of the Universal having more importance than the Particular; doing so, he claims, leads to intellectual laziness, and a denial that problems exist (extreme optimism). Rather, human intelligence must be focused on particular problems, with an eye towards improving that particular situation.

This often-overlooked book is the perfect antidote to the image of the philosopher as an out-of-touch abstract intellectual,

John Dewey's "Reconstruction of Philosophy" is a work of enormous importance in its analysis of the origins and development of the western philosophical tradition. Dewey takes an instrumentalist approach to the problem of how human experience can give rise to its imaginative reconstruction in memory. It is, Dewey says, in this realm of memory and imagination that ritual, religion, and ultimately, philosophy develop. Further, he relates the classical and medieval world views--still remarkably influential in the modern world--to the structure of classical society. Dewey provides the reader with a challenging exposition of the sources of many weaknesses and flaws in western philosophy and suggests remedies for them.

Some readers may find Dewey's prose awkward and occasionally difficult, but for those interested in a history of philosophy which is more than a chronological recounting of philosophical systems, "Reconstruction" is well worth the effort.

The "Heroes Start As Kids" series staring Dewey Does promises to be a favorite among kids aged 6-10.

The first book in the series, First Day, follows Dewey, a nine-year-old sports enthusiast, through his first day of fourth grade. Written from Dewey's point of view, the book is charming and authentic. The book has no wizards or dragons, no talking animals or bumbling bad guys. Dewey's thoughts, hopes and fears are presented in a moment by moment format, with such appealing honesty that kids will surely identify with this hero in the making.

I loved this book and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

HEROES START AS KIDS, they all had stars in their eyes & dreams. 9 year old Dewey, entering 4th Grade, certainly has.

Dewey Does is young, unafraid, believing he can do anything, be all things, he is full of awe & wonder, & his energy & love of life are as contagious as chicken pox & not nearly as nasty!

There are so many things I'd like to tell you about after reading FIRST DAY, about his room, his family, his friends, his life, that you simply must buy a copy for yourselves.

If the next books in this Heroes Start As Kids Series is as good a FIRST DAY, then our youngsters have a new author to mentor them through their busy lives.

Highly recommended reading - Dewey's voice is authentic & easily understood - FIRST DAY is a perfect gift for all kids in third grade as well as fourth, any time of the year!

The first of a planned "Heroes Star As Kids" series, First Day is written by John Cooper for young readers ages 8 to 12 and follows the adventures of nine-year-old sports enthusiast Dewey Does as be experiences his first day of Fourth Grade. As Dewey meets old friends and makes new ones, kids are readily able to identify with his thoughts, dreams, and hopes. Enhanced with occasional black-and-white drawings by Jon Roscetti, First Day will prove to be a popular addition to any school or community library collection, and will leave young readers looking eagerly toward the next Dewey Does adventure!

I'm not sure what philosophers intend to create with their endless excursions into varieties of ways to navel-gaze, but this book has helped me interrupt the endless loop I've seemed to have been caught in with philosophers for several years now. It's certainly not for lack of effort on my part that I've perpetually ended-up confused. Now I learn that increasing the level of confusion has actually been part of the philosophical agenda.

David Hildebrand does me two incredibly welcome favors with this work. First, he gets me started in the right place. That is, he gets me out of theoretical epicycles and returns me to the radical world of reality. Needless to say, having a proper starting point makes a huge difference that I notice immediately.

Next, he tells me what philosophy is capable of. That is, philosophy can actually be engaged in as a MEANS to study, perchance to improve, the experience I find myself immersed in before I open my mouth to speak or poise my pen to write or or even begin to compose sentences.

I have turned an important corner here in my own personal quest to effect improvements in the world. If I never learned where to start or how to employ philosophy, then I'd remain lost in it's self-absorbed, subjective/reflective mazes until I died.

While I admit benefitting from having an erudite response constructed logically to help contextualize Putnam & Rorty, I enjoy most of all the freedom to take my own personal set of capabilities, such that they are, and investigate whether or not I am able to effect improvement in the real world.

I feel very much liberated and very much encouraged in being a practically-minded human creature.

I will add my own deeply sincere thanks to those of the other reviewers here. I look forward to what follows this volume.

Although many essays (and anthologies of essays) have appeared on the topic of classical pragmatism versus neopragmatism, this is the first book-length project I know of to tackle the controversy from a viewpoint fully conversant with and sympathetic to Dewey's signal contribution. It is quite refreshing to discover a scholar who not is not only aware of, but champions, the vital Deweyan conceptions of having versus knowing, primary experience, and the centrality of inquiry. Hildebrand's grasp of Dewey's engagement with direct and critical realism is exemplary, and his "deconstruction" of Rorty's antirealism is nothing short of amazing-"wicked" comes to mind! Although Hildebrand's alternative "practical standpoint" falls short, in my view, of Dewey's full transactional integration of experience and nature, this book opens up an area of research of vital importance. It is well written, informed, and cogent.

This is the best book I have read about Pragmatism in a long time. Hildebrand confronts the differences between Neo-Pragmatism and the classical figures (especially Dewey). He argues that
although Putnam and Rorty consider themselves pragmatists they have failed to understand the more radical and significant insights of Dewey's philosophy. His criticism is not superficial. He
makes an effort to understand even the particular differences between Putnam and Rorty. Bravo!!!!!!!!!!

If you came to this page and are checking out the above title because you are interested in Marxism and/or other "isms" as tools for fundamental social change, to turn around and defeat the injustice and brutalities brought upon working people and farmers here and around the world by this system, this book can help you a lot, as can any other book by George Novack. Here he is answering the "official philosophy" of Yankee capitalism: pragmatism, as put forward by the liberal philosopher John Dewey. While Dewey was often an opponent of the evil things this system does, Novack points out the dead end of a philosophy that is primarily concerned with "practical results"-in the short term only. Novack defends the long view of history that is the view of Marxism: history-as-present as well as the past. He defends historical materialism, which means that Marxists do not believe that history (and history-as-present) is made by a deity or deities; and that social phenomena are directly or indirectly determined by society's economic condition. Novack teaches you how to look at society and events like the New World Depression we have and entered and the string of imperial wars that go with it, in a scientific, objective way. He does this for the sole purpose of making the scientific world view first propagated by Karl Marx and his collaborator Frederick Engels useful as a weapon for today's fighter for a fundamental change in the order of things. He stands alongside them to repeat that "the philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it."

This book is one of several written by the revolutionary Marxist George Novack. In it he counterposes Marxism to pragmatism, but not as one philosophy against another. Marxism is not a philosophy at all; instead it is a scientific method for understanding social history and change. As such it explains the origin, development and social significance of all forms of ideology, including specific philosophical schools of thought.

The overall course of cultural development, since the emergence of the ancient slave-based civilizations, has been driven by the motor of class conflict. Throughout history, each class can be characterized by its own distinctive features of social psychology, morality and outlook, although they are modified in different social contexts. The dominant class of modern society, the capitalist class, is no different. It has its own fundamental moral and social outlook, which is best revealed in the philosophy of pragmatism.

The philosophy of pragmatism was best explained by John Dewey, an early twentieth-century thinker who developed keen insights into the outlook of the ruling class of the United States. He pinpointed and formalized the essential elements of the outlook of the average capitalist and developed these into the principles of a philosophy he called pragmatism. These include an individualistic and optimistic approach to life, a practical, "can do" attitude, a disregard of history and its lessons ("History is bunk," said Henry Ford) and a disdain for any "theory" that does not produce practical results in short order.

Marxism, with its deep concern for the facts of history and its rigorous analysis of the inner logic of social development and change, can explain the development of classes and social modes of production. As part of this, George Novack demonstrates, Marxism can also explain how the guiding ideas of a class are linked to its historical role and needs. And this helps workers to understand the class with which they are forced to do battle, and provides them with valuable lessons they can use in winning the battle.

George Novack, the most outstanding Marxist Philosopher of the 20th Century after we lost Trotsky and Lenin, saw it as his special task to critique the Empiricism and Pragmatism that dominated American culture in his time. He felt a special duty to examine and critique John Dewey, who Novack met and respected and worked with in civil liberties struggles, especially in the defense of Leon Trotsky against Stalin's slanders.
If he began this work in his small book the Origins of Empiricism, he felt this work was completed with this work. He could have published a simpler critique of Dewey much earlier, but his goal was to get to the roots of American Pragmatism and expose its strengths and weaknesses, and to indicate the answers dialectical thought in general, and Marxism in particular had for it.
When the smoke clears, when the struggles of working people push away the confusion that the Stalinoid Moscow and Peking hacks have anything to do with Marxist Philosophy, or that petit bourgeois opponents of Marxism who masquerade as Marxist from university chairs can help fighting working people, farmers, youth, and real revolutionary intellectuals, this book by a life-long revolutionary fighter will be known as one of the classics of Marxist Philosophy.

I had never heard of John Dewey until I took a philosophy class. When I first received the book, I read through it relatively fast. Much of the material went over my head. However, on the second reading it was as if the pages were illuminated. In this book, Mr. Dewey gives his opinion on how we humans learn. It takes every day simple actions, breakes them up into their smallest unit and discusses why we did it that way.

What have I gained from this book? Everytime I do something, I attempt to break it down into its simples being, and determining how this breakdown fosters greater intelligence within myself.

As a text book or a book one wants to learn something from, I give it five stars. For just general reading it will garner 1/2 of a star.

It is very good to see this book appearing in new editions. This is a classic book about thinking. Dewey studies thought from the psychological and philosophical points of view and derives practical ideas for education.

Reading this book, I was surprised to see the applicability of its contents to my main activity field, which is business management. Today's main effort in business research is toward innovation and learning. Thus, thinking skill is probably the most important resource of any organization.

Dewey's view of thinking is surprisingly consistent and as fresh as any of the new management theories. Just to mention one aspect, he warns about the confusion of mental analysis (looking for the general aspects of an object) with physical analysis (dissection into parts), which leads to study living objects as if they were dead. This is the essence of systems thinking, which is so fashionable today!

The ideas Dewey presents about education are very useful for today's business environment. Business leaders, consultants and scholars should look carefully at his advices! His study of work and play is a great lesson of wisdom.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone seriosly aiming at world class business performance.

Those Who Can, Teach discusses modern American education. The book is divided into sections on schools, teachers, students, the history of education, and careers in teaching. The reader will learn, for example, theories of learning; rules of conduct governing educators; issues confronting students; and the role of technology in the classroom.

Those Who Can, Teach explores the diverse and complex aspects of the education profession from grade school to high school.

I especially like the keywords and reflections at the end of each chapter. I am currently using this book as a text in a course designed for students who are seriously considering teaching as a career.

In this book John Dewey presents a compelling argument for a union of religious and social ideals, and for consistency in both idea and action. Although the book is brief, the rhetoric is dense and the thesis is thought-provoking. This volume is an excellent example of Dewey's social and political thought. It should be read and considered not only by social scientists, but also by Christians who wish to intelligently grow their own faith.

Democracy of the Dead: Dewey, Confucius, and the Hope for Democracy in China is an impressive attempt at dialogue between Confucianism and American Pragmatism on the subject of fostering democratic reforms in China. It is both a history of philosophy text, highlighting Dewey's thought and subsequent Pragmatist scholars, liberalism, and Confucianism, and a polemic about the limitations of liberal thought in China. Although some acquaintance with the texts interpreted by the authors is recommended, the authors' synopses are trustworthy and ably and judiciously given. There are also generous quotes and and a and a nine-page bibliography provided.

Admittedly, I was skeptical about the authors' project, which seemed like a desperate attempt to bridge two subjects, pragmatism and Confucianism, that are both equally unprofitable, with a popular item in the news, China. I wanted an appealing interpretation of Confucianism, that would allow me to understand the cultural divide between east and west more easily. I was also interested in any study about pragmatism, which, as the authors also argue, deserves more respect. Last, I wanted a framework to understand Korean and western dialogue, since Korean interpretations of Confucianism are also relevant to Chinese reform historically, and are also a factor in Korea's relations with western countries. The book satisfied my demands more than satisfactorily.

Some readers may be angered by the authors' use of Deweyan Pragmatism to criticize traditional liberalism, but the authors have good reason. Dewey did have a small role in Chinese educational reform before the Communist Party assumed control in 1949. Dewey, and pragmatism in general, are both better exemplars of distinct American realities than liberalism. Also, using pragmatic terms, the authors couch Confucian concepts in a way more palatable and approachable.

The authors argue, that a Confucian interpretation of democracy is possible. This Confucian democracy is useful as a tool for political reform. And then, by using Deweyan thought, it is possible for Chinese and American reformers to share ideas for reform in both countries. The book, therefore, is ultimately a practical one.

The authors eschew nationalistic and philosophical bias, which is necessary for productive dialogue. This is not a book that celebrates western values over eastern ones. It has relevance also in Korea, yet, ironically, it will not convince Americans of the need for reform in their own country, especially if readers refuse to abandon implicit faith in liberal thinking. This is not a book about dead things, but a very lively, well-written, timely offering..

A must read for anyone who would like to know why he or she is sick and the answers to solving those problems.

I know Dr. Matsen personally and have seen with my own eyes the remarkable good work he has been doing for humanity.

He is an undiscovered jewel! This book is worth its weight in gold!!

I really loved this book. I have read many health books and this one, by far, is the best. When my dad found out he had cancer he called John on the phone and john talked with my dad (free of charge) and helped him through finding something that would work for him.

I learnt alot.

Though this book is modest and is filled with silly cartoons, the information inside is fantastic. A friend recommended it to me years ago when I first got sick with Chonic Fatigue. I wish I had read it then. My husband and I take it with us everywhere, use the recipes and generally use it as a ref. book all the time. We both feel sig. better as a result of the info.