Dewey's Social Philosophy

" This is a profound meditation on the most intimate connections between democracy and education. Taking his cue from John Dewey' s masterwork Democracy and Education, Shook encourages his readers to consider how a vital educational agenda can foster reconstruction of the norms of justice, moral behavior, and religious belief in a time of debilitating economic and racial divisions. " - Larry A. Hickman, Center for Dewey Studies, Southern Illinois University, USA

" In this elegantly written and masterfully researched book, a leading contemporary pragmatist investigates how John Dewey saw education as the ' fundamental engine of democracy. ' John Shook discusses Dewey' s faith in the moral and ideal nature of democracy as a cooperative and communal educational venture. Democratic commitments go beyond education as simply schooling for Dewey. In a particularly brilliant chapter, Shook demonstrates how Dewey' s democratic humanism, as the clear consciousness of a moral life, forms a powerful educational argument about the role of punishment in a democracy. I recommend this book highly as a major accomplishment in Dewey scholarship and will assign it in my graduate classes. " - AG Rud, Distinguished Professor, College of Education, Washington State University, USA