John Dewey

John Dewey was born on October 20, 1859, in Vermont in a middle class family. He had three other sibling and his oldest brother died when he was a baby. In 1875, He went to the University of Vermont to study Philosophy. He graduated in 1879 with a BA. Dewey became a teacher and taught high school students for three years. With the encouragement of WT Harris, he went to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to earn his master degree and studied with G. Morris, a well-known philosopher and G. Hall, a renowned psychologist.

Dewey followed his mentor, G Morris to Michigan and obtained his PhD in 1884. He became an instructor of philosophy at the University of Michigan, and stayed there for ten years. During his tenure, he wrote two articles in 1886 and his first two books: Psychology (1887), and Leibniz's New Essays Concerning the Human Understanding (1888). His work had a profound effect in the field of psychology and philosophy.

In 1894, Dewey went to the University of Chicago as chairman of the department of philosophy, psychology, and pedagogy. He became interested in social reform, and social aid. He expanded the diverse programs and in 1900 the university of Chicago was considered the most well versed university in the country.

In 1904, Dewey resigned from his position and join the prestigious Columbia University in New York. There he established many contacts with the great thinkers of his time. He taught there until 1930.

Dewey was a prolific writer and wrote the following: The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy and Other Essays in Contemporary Thought (1910) Essays in Experimental Logic (1916). How We Think (1910; revised ed. 1933), Democracy and Education (1916) Reconstruction in Philosophy (1920), Human Nature and Conduct (1922), Experience and Nature (1925), The Public and its Problems (1927), and The Quest for Certainty (1929). Logic: The Theory of Inquiry in 1938. Art as Experience (1934), A Common Faith (1934), Freedom and Culture (1939), Theory of Valuation (1939), and Knowing and the Known (1949).

Dewey worked until his death on June 2, 1952, at the age of ninety-two.