A Critical Assessment of Dewey's Attack on Dualism

Authors

  • Robert N. Carson Montana State University
  • Stuart Rowlands University of Plymouth

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11575/jet.v35i1.52708

Abstract

This paper examines John Dewey's critique of idealism in The Quest for Certainty (1929) and other works and argues that his case was overstated and pedagogically misleading. While dualism has often been regarded primarily as a metaphysical doctrine, its positive value historically has been as a heuristic device, a mode of intellectual scaffolding that reifies thought itself and makes possible instruction in logic, reflective thought, and formal argumentation. A more sympathetic reading of the history looks at classical philosophers and their modern counterparts as workers who contributed to the world rather than hid from it in a realm of idealized perfection. The consequences for education of Dewey's attack on idealism are also examined.

Author Biographies

Robert N. Carson, Montana State University

Robert Carson received an undergraduate degree in Psychology (1970) and advanced degrees in Philosophy of Education and Educational Policy Studies (Ph.D, 1990) from the University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana. He teaches Educational Psychology, History and Philosophy of Education, and Social Foundations at Montana State University, Bozeman. His principal research interests center upon the meaning and relevance of liberal education in the present age, and the use of foundational perspectives in the teaching of the various disciplines. His publications include: (1998), "Philosophy of education and science education," in the International Handbook of Science Education, Dordrecht, NL: Kluwer; (1997) , "Why science education alone is not enough," Interchange , 28(2 & 3), 109-120; (1997) , "Science and the ideals of liberal education," Science and Education, 6, 225- 238.

Stuart Rowlands, University of Plymouth

Stuart Rowlands received his BSc. in philosophy from the University of Swansea in 1978 and obtained a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (mathematics) from the same university in 1980. He had taught mathematics to ages 11-18 across the ability range at Culverhay Secondary School, Bath, for thirteen and a half years before joining the Centre for Teaching Mathematics at the University of Plymouth in 1994, where he subsequently received a Ph.D in mechanics education. His publications include : (2000), "Turning Vygotsky on his head: Vygotsky's 'Scientifically based method"' and the "Socioculturist's 'Social other,"' Science and Education, 9(6) , 537-575.

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Published

2018-05-17

Issue

Vol. 35 No. 1 (2001)

Section

Articles

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