<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: This is a great introduction to an important thinker.
Review: I gained a lot from the book. But it could use more coverage of John Dewey's dark side. Dewey was a totalitarian socialist who wanted government to take over all education via government schools. He called Edward Bellamy his "Great American Prophet" after Bellamy wrote the book "Looking Backward" wherein Bellamy penned his totalitarian vision. Edward Bellamy was the cousin of Francis Bellamy, another national socialist in the U.S. who, in 1892 created the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag (using a straight-armed salute) to promote government schools. They all wanted the government to takeover all schools and create an "industrial army" of totalitarian socialism as described in "Looking Backward" (an international bestseller written in 1887). Government-schools spread and they mandated racism and segregation by law and did so through WWII and beyond. Dewey was "Johnny Socialism-Seed" as he spread Bellamy ideas at home and abroad. Dewey was fascinated by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and between 1920 and 1928 wrote many articles praising the "new" educational system imposed by the totalitarian socialists. At the invitation of the Commissar of Education in 1928, Dewey traveled to the fledgling police state. None of the socialist "utopia" espoused in 1917 had developed. Their educational ideal of "collective liberation" was in tatters. The individual (student)-collective (society) creed of Dewey's socialist education appealed to the Soviet socialists. Dewey studied its educational system, prepared educational surveys, and wrote several articles and a book on the topic. After the First World War, Dewey also studied education in China and lectured there from 1919 to 1921. The Chinese literary reformer Hu Shih (1891-1962), completed his Ph.D. in philosophy at Columbia University under John Dewey in 1917. He was greatly influenced by Dewey and became a lifelong advocate of Dewey's ideas. Dewey and his "new" education expanded government-schools and totalitarian socialism everywhere. The socialist Wholecaust followed shortly after the worldwide impact of Bellamy's totalitarian ideas. While the Holocaust was monstrous, it was part of the bigger Wholecaust. Under the industrial army of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 62 million people were slaughtered; the People's Republic of China, 35 million; and the National Socialist German Workers' Party, 21 million (numbers from Professor R. J. Rummel's article in the Encyclopedia of Genocide (1999)) Dewey was also interested in the socialist economic experiments in the Union of the Soviet Socialists Republics. He imported their cockamamy ideas, after exporting his own. Dewey's ideas have also been criticized for their alleged neglect of the basic skills of literacy and numeracy. It is a tragedy that he is considered a "great philosopher" in the U.S. He was probably also considered a "great philosopher" by the totalitarian socialists in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Peoples' Republic of China.
Rating:
Summary: Understanding John Dewey's dark side.
Review: I gained a lot from the book. But it could use more coverage of John Dewey's dark side. Dewey was a totalitarian socialist who wanted government to take over all education via government schools. He called Edward Bellamy his "Great American Prophet" after Bellamy wrote the book "Looking Backward" wherein Bellamy penned his totalitarian vision. Edward Bellamy was the cousin of Francis Bellamy, another national socialist in the U.S. who, in 1892 created the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag (using a straight-armed salute) to promote government schools. They all wanted the government to takeover all schools and create an "industrial army" of totalitarian socialism as described in "Looking Backward" (an international bestseller written in 1887). Government-schools spread and they mandated racism and segregation by law and did so through WWII and beyond. Dewey was "Johnny Socialism-Seed" as he spread Bellamy ideas at home and abroad. Dewey was fascinated by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and between 1920 and 1928 wrote many articles praising the "new" educational system imposed by the totalitarian socialists. At the invitation of the Commissar of Education in 1928, Dewey traveled to the fledgling police state. None of the socialist "utopia" espoused in 1917 had developed. Their educational ideal of "collective liberation" was in tatters. The individual (student)-collective (society) creed of Dewey's socialist education appealed to the Soviet socialists. Dewey studied its educational system, prepared educational surveys, and wrote several articles and a book on the topic. After the First World War, Dewey also studied education in China and lectured there from 1919 to 1921. The Chinese literary reformer Hu Shih (1891-1962), completed his Ph.D. in philosophy at Columbia University under John Dewey in 1917. He was greatly influenced by Dewey and became a lifelong advocate of Dewey's ideas. Dewey and his "new" education expanded government-schools and totalitarian socialism everywhere. The socialist Wholecaust followed shortly after the worldwide impact of Bellamy's totalitarian ideas. While the Holocaust was monstrous, it was part of the bigger Wholecaust. Under the industrial army of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 62 million people were slaughtered; the People's Republic of China, 35 million; and the National Socialist German Workers' Party, 21 million (numbers from Professor R. J. Rummel's article in the Encyclopedia of Genocide (1999)) Dewey was also interested in the socialist economic experiments in the Union of the Soviet Socialists Republics. He imported their cockamamy ideas, after exporting his own. Dewey's ideas have also been criticized for their alleged neglect of the basic skills of literacy and numeracy. It is a tragedy that he is considered a "great philosopher" in the U.S. He was probably also considered a "great philosopher" by the totalitarian socialists in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Peoples' Republic of China.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great introduction to an important thinker.
Review: This is a great introduction to an important and often underrated thinker. This introduction is clear and well written so that it can serve as a great introduction to a layperson and not just a philosophy student. Unfortunately Dewey is one of those figures whose work seems to be better known through reputation and hearsay rather than first hand knowledge. This book is a great way to acquire a real understanding of his thinking because the book extensively quotes Dewey directly while providing useful context. Dewey has a very practical approach to philosophy and his work is uniquely applicable to daily life so I would recommend this book to anyone. The following is a quote from Dewey that illustrates this point nicely: "Philosophy recovers itself when it ceases to be a device for dealing with the problems of philosophers and becomes a method, cultivated by philosophers, for dealing with the problems of men." I'm note sure what the previous reviewer is talking about but his comments have nothing to do with this book and it is obvious he has not read the book.
<< 1 >>
| 
