Dewey's Voice and My Dissertation

This dissertation is a work of practical moral philosophy in the spirit of John Dewey. For some time, I've struggled with place of Dewey in my own work. His words and ideas constantly tumble around in my head, and I find that my work is always tethered to and thus is an extension of his.

Why Dewey? Because I am astounded by the breadth and depth of his life's work, and the influence he exercised in the U.S.A until his death in 1952. Philosophy, Psychology, Education, Science, Culture, Politics, Religion, Ethics, and Art. Dewey not only attended to these topics, he generally elucidated and enlightened by virtue of his careful and subtle mind and his pragmatic methods.

Because as a student of communication studies and environmental studies and ethics and democracy and science and politics, Dewey's work was there to be found, and what he had to say in each sphere seems as relevant today as when it was written. In short, in Dewey I see forgotten wisdom, and we are living in a period of precariousness and uncertainty. We now need sage advice, and I think Dewey's work is relevant and useful still.

So, rather than dance around the issue, or fabricate convoluted explanations of why I constantly refer to these seemingly esoteric and forgotten words of Dewey, I choose instead to simply describe this work as profoundly Deweyan. Moreover, I intend to make participation in Deweyan scholarship one of the contributions of this project.