Abstract
Did John Dewey’s ‘new philosophy of education’ really try to dissolve the whole block of tradition or is his debt namely to educational core-concepts of neo-humanism deeper than he was prepared to acknowledge? After some general remarks on the process of reception as productive re-adaptation and its implication for historiography I will deal with Dewey’s own contexts that shape the interpretative grid through which he receives the tradition. Two case studies attempt to illustrate both continuity and discontinuity with a specific part of this tradition, namely two critical perspectives within German neo-humanism: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Johann Friedrich Herbart.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
D Benner (1997) Einleitung D Benner (Eds) Johann Friedrich Herbart. Systematische Pädagogik Deutscher Studien Verlag Weinheim 11–42
G Biesta S. Miedema (2000) ArticleTitleContext and interaction How to assess Dewey’s influence on educational reform in europe? Studies in Philosophy and Education. 19 21–37
Buck (1967/1989) Lernen und Erfahrung – Epagogik: zum Begriff der didaktischen Induktion (1969) Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt
K Cruikshank M. Knoll (1994) ArticleTitleHerbart in Amerika, Vom Anfang und Ende eines erfolgreichen Reformkonzepts1886–1901 Bildung und Erziehung. 47 149–164 Occurrence Handle10.7788/bue.1994.47.2.149
Dewey, J. (1899/1966). In R.D. Archambault (Ed), Lectures in the philosophy of education. New York: Random House.
Dewey, J. (1967–1972). In J.A. Boydston (Ed), The early works,1882–1898. Carbondale: University of Southern Illinois Press (hereafter EW).
Dewey, J. (1976–1983). In J.A. Boydston (Ed), The middle works,1899–1924. Carbondale: University of Southern Illinois Press (hereafter MW).
Dewey, J. (1981–1991). In J.A. Boydston (Ed), The later works,1925–1953. Carbondale: University of Southern Illinois Press (hereafter LW).
Dunkel, H.B. (1970). Herbart and Herbartianism:An educational ghost story. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
A Gimmler (2000) Pragmatische Aspekte im Denken Hegels M Sandbothe (Eds) Die Renaissance des Pragmatismus. Aktuelle Verflechtungen zwischen analytischer und kontinentaler Philosophie Velbrück. Weilerswist 270–291
Goetzmann, W.H. (Ed) (1973). The American Hegelians. An intellectual episode in the history of western America. New York: Alfred Knopf.
Good, J.A. (2001). A search for unity in diversity: the ‘permanent Hegelian Deposit’ in the philosophy of John Dewey. Houston: Ph.D. diss., Rice University.
Good, J.A. (2003). The hegelian roots of Dewey’s pragmatism. (manuscript): Paper delivered at a conference in Zürich, Switzerland, March 2003; to be published in D. Tröhler/J. Oelkers (Eds): Pragmatismus und Pädagogik. Zürich: Pestalozzianum (in preparation).
G.W.F Hegel (1807/1967) Phenomenolgy of mind (1807), trans. by J.B. Baille Harper Row New York
Hegel, G.W.F. (1807/1970). Wer denkt abstrakt? In G.W.F. Hegel (Ed), Werke, vol. 2 (pp. 575–581). Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp.
A Hence (1995) Pragmatism as naturalized hegelianism: overcoming transcendental philosophy? H.J Saatkamp (Eds) Rorty and pragmatism Vanderbilt Nashville and London 100–121
Herbart, J.F. (1902/1989). In K. Kehrbach & O. Flügel (Eds), Sämtliche Werke in chronologischer Reihenfolge 2nd reprint, Aalen: Scientia. (hereafter SW).
J.F. Herbart (1816/2003) Lehrbuch zur Psychologie Königshausen Neumann Würzburg
Kaiser-El-Safti (2000). Ichbildung im Spannungsfeld von Philosophie, Politik und Wissenschaft – Johann Friedrich Herbart und die Folgen. (manuscript; see: http://www.uni-koeln.de/ew-fak/Dekanat/herbart.html) Koeln.
M Kaiser-El-Safti (2003) Einführung. J.F Herbart (Eds) Lehrbuch zur Psychologie [1816] (pp. V-LXVII) Königshausen Neumann Würzburg
A. Langewand (1999) ArticleTitleKontextanalyse als Methode der pädagogischen Geschichtsschreibung Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 45 505–519
Th Z Levine (1994) Modernity and the spirit of naturalism J Ryder (Eds) American philosophic naturalism in the twentieth century Prometheus Amherst 508–523
Lovejoy, A.O. (1920/1963). Pragmatism vs. the pragmatist (1920). In The thirteen pragmatisms and other essays (pp. 133–190). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
J Martin (2002) The education of John Dewey. A biography Columbia University Press New York
J Oelkers (2000) John Deweys Philosophie der Erziehung: eine theoriegeschichtliche Analyse H Joas (Eds) Philosophie der Demokratie. Beiträge zum Werk von John Dewey Suhrkamp Frankfurt/M 280–316
D.C Phillips (1971) John Dewey and the organismic archetype R.J.W Selleck (Eds) Melbourne studies in education 1971 Melbourne University Press Melbourne 232–271
Robinson, D. N. (1982). Toward a science of human nature. Essays on the Psychologies of Mill, Hegel, Wundt, and James. New York: Columbia UP.
G.G Rosenstock (1964) F.A. Trendelenburg. Forerunner to John Dewey Southern Illinois University Press Carbondale
Schlüter, St. (2000). Philosophie und Pädagogik. Zum Einfluß des deutschen Realismus auf den amerikanischen Pragmatismus (manuscript). Paper delivered at a conference in Flensburg, November 2000.
J Schriewer (1994) Internationalisierung der Pädagogik und vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft D.K Müller (Eds) Pädagogik, Erziehungswissenschaft, Bildung. Eine Einführung in das Studium Böhlau Köln 427–462
J Shook (2000) Dewey’s empirical theory of knowledge and reality Vanderbilt University Press Nashville
A Trendelenburg (1870/1964) Logische Untersuchungen(reprint of the 3rd edition 1870) Georg Olms Hildesheim
M White (1943) The origin of Dewey’s instrumentalism Columbia University Press New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bellmann, J. Re-Interpretation in Historiography: John Dewey and the Neo-Humanist Tradition. Stud Philos Educ 23, 467–488 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-004-4455-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-004-4455-y