Dewey [The Arguments of the Philosophers series]

First Published in 1990. The purpose of this series is to provide a contemporary assessment and history of the entire course of philosophical thought. Each book constitutes a detailed, critical introduction to the work of a philosopher of major influence and significance. Someone relatively new to philosophy might expect from the series title to have here a book about the disputes in which John Dewey engaged with other philosophers. ‘Arguments’ in the present context, however, refers to a general way of articulating thoughts, that is by offering some as reasons for holding others. The author states that Dewey offers a picture of what contemporary philosophy would be like if, transformed as it has been under the influence of modern science, it had at the same time carried with it more of the legacy of the post-Kantian (or ‘Hegelian’) philosophy of the nineteenth century. This book is an attempt to specify some of the most important features of that picture and how they bear on the way philosophy conducts argument.

J.E. Tiles is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.