John Dewey's The Quest For Certainty

There are 3 basic views that can be taken on the view of determinism, (1) deny its reality, either because of the existence of free will or on independent grounds; (2) accept its reality but argue for its compatibility with free will; or (3) accept its reality and deny its compatibility with free will.In this paper I am going to be defending the view compatibilism, specifically W. T. Stace’s view of compatibilism.

When it comes to how students should learn, different people will have a different approach. Some might want to approach learning in a more hands-on way, while others may want to students to learn more independently. In addition, each student is an individual, and they each have their own ways of learning as well. One student may be more visual, while another student may approach learning in a more physical way. Each student and their unique abilities must be taken into account. While educators will have their own views on how the curriculum should be, there is bound to be some overlap as well. This is where the theories from educational theorists and authors John Dewey and Ralph Tyler become part of the conversation. John Dewey was known as one of the fathers of functional psychology, and was also an advocate for progressive education. Ralph Tyler, on the other hand was an educator who worked in assessment. Each of these men, contributed a large of themselves to the educational system, in their own ways that are noteworthy. While they may share some similarities in their approach to education, there are some notable differences as well. This paper will be used to briefly explore the similarities and also the differences that are found in the ideas from these two educational figures.

John Dewey is considered to have been a pedagogical progressivist, meaning he focused on education reform by first reforming the way that the teaching was actually done. In the past education focused on teaching children facts, mostly by learning with repetition. This was a problem because it taught children information but not how to use that mindfulness with critical thinking in real-world situations. These problems led John Dewey to write a series of articles that described his views on teaching and how it should be improved upon, this is called “My Pedagogic Creed”. Dewey wanted to equally incorporate a psychological, the abilities and interest of the student, and sociological, the needs and commitments of the society, aspect into teaching. He believed that children were born with blank slates and throughout their lives they would receive guidance “unconsciously” and be molded into adults (Dewey, 1). So the introduction of these aspects would help the molded children into better citizens and that would help drive the social economy into prosperity and overall a better democratic society.

Being regarded as father of progressive education, John Dewey’s most valuable contribution lied in the promotion of practical approach to education. His progressive education method underlined the importance of experience in learning, which was contradictory to the earlier days’ traditional authoritarian and rote learning educational approach. John Dewey believed in democracy in education, suggesting a learn process by participating and doing. His educational approach also put an emphasis on the development of relevant and practical life skills for students.

Determinism is a doctrine suggesting that for every event there exist conditions that could cause no alternative event. Free will is a philosophical term describing a particular sort of capacity of rational agents to choose a course of action from among various alternatives. Understandably, the dichotomy between these two concepts is a topic philosophers have debated over for many years. As a result of these debates, a number of alternative philosophical perspectives arguing for the existence of free will, namely libertarianism and compatibilism, have emerged, existing in stark contrast to determinism. In order to ascertain the extent to which free will is compatible with determinism, one must first consider these different approaches to

Many times I find myself sitting and wondering whether I am fully free or not. I wake up every single morning and do the same routine, which is eat breakfast, go to class or work, do homework, go to the gym, shower, and then go to bed. Does this truly mean I am free? There are a lot of questions that you can ask yourself while following a routine. Is this really the path I should have taken? Were my choices determined by external factors? Determinism is the thesis that an any instant there is only one physically possible future. Robert Blatchford and Walter Terence Stace, two philosophers, both agree that determinism is true, although they have two different views on whether this means that people are free or not. Blatchford believes that everything is predestined. Stace on the other hand, believes that a person chooses what they do because of free will. In this essay I am going to discuss both of the philosophers’ views more in depth and why I favor Stace’s view over Blatchford’s.

John Dewey’s beliefs are often questioned because how can one brilliant man cause so much damage for education in America? Based on his philosophies, we should question whether his intentions were to help the

Many believe that the world is largely determined but we can still act freely as our behaviour is not predictable. Thomas Aquinas disagreed with hard determinism as he believed that ‘man chooses freely, not out of necessity’. Although Aquinas and others that criticise hard determinism and disagree with the hard determinist views, would still agree with hard determinists in that free will and determinism are incompatible, but would argue that we have free will but our lives are not determined. This view that free will and determinism are incompatible but it is free will that exists, not determinism, is also supported by libertarians.

Hamlin Garland correctly demonstrates a strong example of determinism through the changing circumstances of Tim Haskins that were affected

In this paper, I will consider Harry Frankfurt 's arguments for the compatibilism of determinism and

In 1996, Robert Dewey was convicted and given 10 years in prison for stalking Madonna. He was deemed a huge threat and was even shot by Madonna’s bodyguards when he tried to get past them to hurt her. Dewey was considered a very dangerous and violent man after stating that he would either “marry Madonna or slash her throat from ear to ear.” However, in 2012, Robert had escaped the mental institution that he was placed in after serving his 10 years, though he was thankfully caught and returned to the facility before any harm was

John Dewey was a leading educator in the American school of thought known as pragmatism. Pragmatism is an approach that assesses the truth of meaning of theories or beliefs in a practical approach. Which just means to deal with problems in a practical way,

Furthermore, there are three main aspects which were customarily associated with a science: metaphysical, theoretical and methodological assumptions. Under metaphysical it is believed that to gain scientific status requires the certainty that the subject matter i.e. human thought/ behaviour, is similar to that of other accepted sciences. This could then be true for Psychology, as particularly since Darwin’s suggestion of a continuity between behaviours of humans and other species, behaviour has become more scrutinised. However, this must be assumed in respect of determinism, suggesting predictions could be made. ‘Heisenbergs uncertainty principle’ suggests that when relating evidence of indeterminism within the universe to human behaviour, it proves ambiguous, and with parts of the discipline believing strongly in free will it seems difficult to establish a common ground (Valentine E.R. page 2).

Bertrand Russell supports his arguments with insight that comes from teaching, practicing, and seeing the effects of philosophy both within himself and the people around him. While studying philosophy Russell will only intensify the uncertainty about the world around us and the inner workings of our mind. Likewise in support of Russell’s argument, the study of sciences that is aforementioned such as; Phycology, Astronomy, and Physics which were originally pondered by philosophers has moved from philosophical theory to scientific study.

Empiricist philosophers such as John Locke believe that knowledge must come from experience. Others philosophers such as Descartes believe that knowledge is innate; this way of thinking is used by rationalist. In this paper I will discuss the difference between Descartes rationalism in his essays "The Meditations" and Locke's empiricism in his essays "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding". I will then lend my understanding as to what I believe as the ultimate source of knowledge.