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for the Communist candidate for president, American liberalism all but
merged with Soviet communism. Only a few Marxist thinkers, such as
Sidney Hook, were anti-Soviet. Stalin's mounting of the Moscow trials,
dubious though they were, still occurred far distant from America and
seemed easily justified by the claim that any means were acceptable that
saved the Revolution. But when one of the most revered American lib–
eral intellectuals, John Dewey, announced that after examining the evi–
dence thoroughly he had concluded that Stalin's accusations against
Trotsky were false and self-condemning, the public, who seldom agreed
with Dewey but always trusted his intelligence and honesty, began to be
convinced of the corruption of the Revolution . More important, some
American liberals started to question the Soviet leadership for the first
time-and that led to an examination of the Soviet experiment. One by
one, most American intellectuals began to see the Revolution-so
Richard Wright put it-as "the God that failed ."
It was a great, historic moment for Dewey, but an even greater
demonstration that intellectual honesty, rather than party loyalty, can
alter history. Whenever he was asked about his favorite work in philos–
ophy, John Dewey named Plato's
Republic
first . He reread it about
every other year. This choice often perplexed his readers. What could
Dewey, the instrumentalist, find of value in Plato's idealism?
But the attentive observer of his activities in the Trotsky trial will
have no such problem. Clearly, Plato's construction of a commonwealth
centered in justice, his tripartite division of the soul, and his description
of the nature and responsibilities of the ruler, all appealed powerfully to
Dewey's own ego-ideals.
Plato's idealist metaphysics mattered not a bit to Dewey; but his prac–
tical ideals meant a great deal. Over and over Dewey stated that for him
the search for truth was primary; that in politics this meant a search for
justice; that justice had to be realized and ethically enacted in society,
among citizens; and that these efforts should be guided by nothing less
than rational choice-never by the appetite for power and possessions,
or by the quest for party reputation or personal honor.
Naturally and easily-but, as Plato always insists, without desire–
the philosopher-king must involve himself in the search for social jus–
tice. The Trotsky trial forced Dewey not merely into the role of
chairman of a commission, but-much more-into the position of the
philosopher-judge and leader who "philosophizes," as Plato says "in a
healthy way," always combining justice with prudence, "for in this way
a human being becomes happiest."
