A Search for Unity in Diversity

The 'Permanent Hegelian Deposit' in the Philosophy of John Dewey

James A. Good

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2005
• eBook ISBN: 9780739160664
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophical Criticism

A Search for Unity in Diversity examines the traditional readings of John Dewey's relationship to Hegel and demonstrates that Dewey's later pragmatism was a development of the historicist/humanistic Hegel, rather than a turning away from Hegelian philosophy. Good argues that Dewey drew upon resources he found in the writings of St. Louis Hegelians to fashion a non-metaphysical reading of Hegel. A Search for Unity in Diversity reasons that Hegel encouraged Dewey to understand philosophy as an exercise in individual and cultural reconstruction. Beyond exposing fatal flaws in the traditional reading of Dewey's relationship to Hegel, Good shows that Dewey's pragmatism is a development, rather than a rejection, of Hegel's philosophy. This not only explains Dewey's Hegelian deposit, it also sheds light on why recent Hegel scholars have found elements of pragmatism in Hegel's thought and provides grounds for rapprochment between American pragmatism and Continental European philosophy.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Acknowledgements
• Table of Contents
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter One - The Humanistic/Historicist Hegel
• Chapter Two - American Hegelianism, 1830-1900
• Chapter Three - Dewey in Burlington and Baltimore, 1859–1884
• Chapter Four - Dewey in Michigan, 1884–1894
• Chapter Five - Dewey’s Transitional Years, 1894-1904
• Chapter Six - From Actualism to Brutalism, 1904–1916
• Selected Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author