John Dewey's Instrumentalism

Brian Prahl

American Political Thought

Ingram

2-27-03

John Dewey’s Instrumentalism

John Dewey, largely regarded as America’s greatest philosopher, was born in 1859. Throughout his early life, he lived on a farm with protestant, socially ambitious parents. Chores that Dewey was required to do on this farm became a natural part of his life. Dewey also detested school, which he thought was mundane and worthless. He thought that education from “direct contacts with life” was much more worthwhile. These ideas early in his life, helped shape his instrumentalist philosophy. Dewey received his B.A. from the University of Vermont, and his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. He then taught philosophy at the University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Chicago, and Columbia University. While doing so, he became known for his theory of instrumentalism. The following pages examine this theory and his “application of democratic ideals to education”(Issak).

It is impossible to discuss Dewey’s instrumentalism without first defining pragmatism. According to the Merrian Webster dictionary, pragmatism is “an American movement in philosophy founded by C.S. Pierce and William Jones and is marked by the doctrines…that the function of thought is to guide action, and that truth is preeminently to be tested by the practical consequences of belief.” Dewey’s philosophy adds, “cognition consists in forging ideal tools or instruments with which to cope with a given situation”(A in P). These instruments are ideas. And ideas are guided by the norms of society because they are based on experience. Society plays a major role in developing these instruments. Humans, by default, are social beings. Also, individual success can only be achieved within social limitations. The question for Dewey: How do we create a social system in which each individual can realize their full potential?

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First, we must realize that within “American Society” there are many smaller social groups that are different, unequal, and coexist. In order to create a social system that maximizes the potential of each individual, individuals must share a large number of common interests. For this to happen, “all members of the group must have an equable opportunity to receive and take from others”(Isaak, 378). This, despite the efforts of Dewey and others, is not the case in modern America. There is a class separation that prohibits equality of opportunity in education, among other things. This separation limits interaction between various social groups, and in turn, limits the commonality of goals between them. Without a variety of common interests, “the influences which educate some into masters, educate others into slaves”(Isaak, 378). We must break down these social barriers in order do maximize potential for individuals in all social groups. Dewey called this the social organization of knowledge.

To Dewey, the purpose of education is the progress of humanity as a whole. The Platonic ideal of education was quite similar to Dewey’s. The problem, however, is that Plato’s view of humanity was limited. “He never got any conception of the indefinate plurality of activities which may characterize an individual or social group,” according to Dewey(Isaak, 381). A critique of 18th Century Enlightenment philosophy also aided in forming Dewey’s view. The view during this time period was that “education in accord with nature furnishes the goal and the method of instruction,” and that if no “man-imposed” social restrictions were in place, natural law could take the place of education. Dewey believed this philosophy lacked any modes for reaching its ideal. These modes were the basis of Dewey’s philosophy. 19th Century philosophy of education “reintroduced the idea of subordination of the individual to the institution”(Isaak, 388). This philosophy goes back to authoritarian forms of government, in which education serves only the interests of the rulers. Therefore, for the purpose of education, Dewey believed democracy is the only acceptable from of government.

For Dewey, democracy was not only a form of government, but a “primary ethical value”(encyc.com). Democratic ideals of cooperation and public spiritedness must be instituted into individuals by “experimental and inventive, rather than dogmatic, means”(encyc.com). This links directly with pragmatism and instrumentalism in that both philosophies advocate that truth is what has proven to be successful by experience. On a basic level, the goal of society is to solve social problems. The solutions to these problems equal truth. But, since these problems are constantly changing, the ideal society must readily allow change. This society must also educate its members to “personal initiative and adaptability. Otherwise, they will be overwhelmed by the changes,” and confusion will result(Isaak, 380). This education, according to Deweyian philosophy, “must begin at the earliest stages of a child’s educational experience”(ency.com). Dewey revolutionized public school in America with this philosophy. Dewey believed that the purpose of education is not to prepare individuals for civil life. In this type of educational system, “disjoint facts and ideas are conveyed by the teacher and memorized by the student”(encyc.com). Knowledge of this type is not true knowledge. Dewey insisted that action is involved in knowledge, … and that it is in experimental knowing that genuine intellectual integrity is found”(A in P).

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