BOOKS
FROM MARX TO DEWEY
JOHN DEWEY. By Sidney Hook. The John Day Co.
$2.00.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF JOHN DEWEY. Edited by P. A. Schilpp. North–
western University.
$4.00.
John Dewey is America's greatest philosopher. Appearing on his
eightieth birthday, these hooks document the impact of his thought upon
critics and disciples. Since the publication of his first paper in 1882, he
has written enough on every branch of philosophy to make Sidney Hook's
exposition a necessity. The Schilpp volume serves an equally valuable
function. It contains a biography hy Dewey's daughters, a series of criti·
cal essays hy well-known contemporaries-notably Russell and Santayana
-and finally a rebuttal by Dewey himself. This last is a vigorous reply to
the opposition, in which Dewey practically punches his way through to a
succinct statement on experience, knowledge, and value. Hook's "intellec·
tual portrait" is more direct and systematic. Because of its unified char·
acter, and its author's well-earned reputation as a serious student of Marx,
it provides an excellent touchstone for a discussion of Dewey as critic of
modern culture. Hook's attempt at a fusion of Deweyan and Marxist
politics is especially significant. It leads him to conclusions repudiated
hy both Dewey and Marxists. Two things become clear upon reading
Hook's account.
(l)
He completely underestimates Dewey's opposition to
Marxism. (2) Dewey's plea for a use of scientific method in politics can·
not camouflage his failure to construct a scientific political program.
Dewey's greatest contribution, according to Hook, is his theory of
inquiry. His central thesis is that ideas are plans of action, to be called
true when they lead to the removal of doubt. Problem-solving, or inquiry,
is what Dewey intends by 'thought.' Inquiry into inquiry is what he means
by 'logic.' The latter determines the function of formal principles in
inquiry, and describes the general pattern of thought. Such an investiga·
tion is wholly public; it involves no sawing open of heads to see what goes
on inside. For Dewey holds that the notion of thought as an inside job is a
sophisticated version of the split between theory and practice. When we
inquire, we use our eyes, ears, and limbs; we also use language and instru·
ments, and live with other people. Inquiry therefore, has a biological and
cultural matrix. Within this context men set up what Dewey calls 'ends-in·
view,' some of which they consider more valuable than others. To achieve
these ends-one of which is socialism-they must be intelligent; they must
conscientiously employ the accredited methods of science to check them·
selves along the way. This, in brief, is Dewey's contribution to our know!·
edge of human affairs.
62
