In the summer of 1894 after John Dewey – American pragmatist, educator, and labor advocate – was appointed chair of philosophy at the University of Chicago, he took the train ride from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Chicago. He barely made it. Eugene Debs and the American Railway Union had effectively shut down all rail traffic west of Chicago, and the only way into the city was on trains without Pullman sleeping cars attached to them. After Debs was arrested and the strike broken, Dewey wrote to his wife Alice, then in Europe on vacation, that the strike and all its violence had indeed accomplished something: It had gotten “the social organism thinking” (Menand 297).

This anecdote encapsulates thematically John Dewey’s lasting contribution to American intellectual life. In his writings

2184 words

Citation: Jackson, Brian. "John Dewey". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 September 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1247, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1247 John Dewey 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.