John Dewey, Jane Addams and the Pragmatist Road to Democracy

Description: > Since the middle of the 20th century many liberal philosophers have > been skeptical of fostering values through public education. The > state in general, and its educational institutions in particular, > were supposed to be neutral regarding theories of the good. Given the > abuses of totalitarian regimes, this seemed a necessary adjustment to > preserve the freedom of individuals. Indoctrination was to be avoided > at all cost. This is true not only for philosophers who are, like > F.A. Hayek, wary of state intervention in general. It is also > characteristic of the work of John Rawls whose influence on political > philosophy today can hardly be overestimated. While Rawls was not > afraid of economic redistribution, he was adamant about keeping > public education as free from instilling a liberal and/or democratic > worldview as possible. Most of all, the state must renounce on > favoring any specific theory of the good. This includes, Rawls says, > the liberalism of John Stuart Mill as well as Immanuel Kant's > emphasis on autonomy. > Given the recent undermining of the democratic nation state and its > liberal foundations - there is no need to list the by now notorious > examples -, the idea suggests itself that this educational abstinence > has been one of the drivers of the current crisis of democracy. After > all, a significant number of people seem to no longer support the > democratic nation state with its traditional allegiances, like to > rely on facts, to be critical of the sources of information, to form > an understanding of the opinions of those one disagrees with, to > accept the outcome of elections, etc. So, has liberalism gone too far > in abstaining from educating for democratic values and the virtues of > liberalism? Do we need public education - in schools, universities, > and in adult education - that consciously fosters democratic values > and liberal theories of the good? And if so, how could this education > look like and what distinguishes it from the indoctrination of > totalitarian regimes? > Organized by the John-Dewey-Center Switzerland the conference > naturally blends these questions into the question whether Dewey's > thoughts on democratic education (especially his Democracy and > Education from 1916), largely bypassed by Rawls and his followers, > deserve renewed interest. The question also applies to Amy Gutmann's > Democratic Education from 1987. Although Gutmann ultimately rejects > Dewey's version of democratic education as too perfectionist because > Dewey claims that 'what the best and wisest parent wants for his own > child, that must the community want for all of its children', Gutmann > explicitly builds on Dewey's ideas and breaks, to some extent at > least, with the liberal mainstream abstention from democratic > education that emerged in the middle of the 20th century.