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The Public and its Problems
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A classic in social and political philosophy. In his characteristic and provocative dialectic style, John Dewey clarifies the meaning and implications of such concepts as “the public,” “the state,” “government,” and “political democracy”; distinguishes his a posteriori reasoning from a priori reasoning which, he argues, permeates less meaningful discussions of basic
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Paperback, 242 pages
Published
November 1st 1991
by Swallow Press
(first published 1927)
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I became obnoxious to everyone around me whilst reading this book, mainly because - even almost a century after its publication - so much of it rings true. All of us know democracy isn't perfect. Young people in the western world have mostly lost faith in democracy, according to most recent surveys, but it seems to me that we've lost interest in discussing this social experiment and how we can make it better. Some of what Dewey has to say will seem absolutely out of reach in the modern world,
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Reading this book reminded me why I'm not a poli-sci or sociology major. It's not that there was anything awful about the book, it's just not my 'cup o tea' as it were.
The book is actually a collection of thoughtful and insightful lectures-turned-essays contemplating the form of democracy and what truly constitutes a "public", a "society", a "community" and what government's involvement should be in all these.
For me, the writing had some great nuggets scattered throughout but unfortunately I ...more
The book is actually a collection of thoughtful and insightful lectures-turned-essays contemplating the form of democracy and what truly constitutes a "public", a "society", a "community" and what government's involvement should be in all these.
For me, the writing had some great nuggets scattered throughout but unfortunately I ...more

One of my committee members suggested I re-read John Dewey's The Public and Its Problems because my dissertation is dealing with issues of privacy, publicity, and the social. It was a delight to return to early 20th century pragmatism, since I haven't read much (except for Josiah Royce) since my master's program. Here's a few (disjointed) notes and quotations from Dewey.
Dewey argues that the public/private distinction is not simply an individual/social distinction, because private acts can be ...more
Dewey argues that the public/private distinction is not simply an individual/social distinction, because private acts can be ...more

it is a hard book to warp your head around, it's tiny but delicate book, it's mainly about hypothesis between The Public as a whole and it's role in the society and the societies role as individuals in constructing a Governmental rule, and the role of democracy and communication on the Public.
it is kinda of a book that gives you headache, i don't recommend it to anyone, it a bit academical advanced and not using examples to simplify the theories just the cheer hypotheses by itself to justify and ...more
it is kinda of a book that gives you headache, i don't recommend it to anyone, it a bit academical advanced and not using examples to simplify the theories just the cheer hypotheses by itself to justify and ...more

John Dewey argues that the public is “in eclipse” because it is bewildered. (121-123) “There are too many publics and too much of public concern for our existing resources to cope with.” (126) This, Dewey asserts, is without historical parallel. (126) He attributes the public’s bewilderment primarily to the social changes wrought by the industrial revolution as well as the continuing technological transformation of society. (141-142, among others) These changes dislocated the public by
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My copy is a forest of sticky tabs. For the most part, it's absolutely astonishing that this book was written in 1927: its analysis of our political ills and their technological/economic roots is sharp and accurate today.
Dewey argues that mass technologies - industrialism and mass communications - pretty much necessitate the death of citizenship in favor of consumerism, by weakening strong ties and empowering weak ones, while not being blind to the many advantages of the mass age.
He's scathing ...more
Dewey argues that mass technologies - industrialism and mass communications - pretty much necessitate the death of citizenship in favor of consumerism, by weakening strong ties and empowering weak ones, while not being blind to the many advantages of the mass age.
He's scathing ...more

This book is hard to evaluate. It's really a set of working hypotheses on the relationship between public rationality and mass society. He wants to avoid saying that the public is lost for good, like Lippmann and other said before him. Rather it's asleep or eclipsed. The problem is that his plea for increased communication and rationality is never as convincing as his description of democracy's erosion from within. This makes it seem quaint.

Okay this book is not the most interesting book in the world until about the fourth chapter. The writing is a little repetitive. But the idea are very interesting. Also it tends to jive well with both cynicism and optimism that America had the exact same problems almost a hundred years ago. Sure it hasn't gotten any better, but at least it isn't getting worse. The book also assumes a lot about the capacity of people which is as always endearing.

Oh where oh where has the public gone oh where oh where could it be? Poor John Dewey, like Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Tocqueville before him; they just want selfish individualists to give a shit about their polity and inject a good shot of republican spirit into political discourse. I am sensitive to both their arguments and cause.

Oct 02, 2011
Tommy Estlund
added it
Very interesting look at how we view community in relation to political thought. Dewey does a great job of drawing to the fore the way we see certain political institutions as "sacred" and view with a reverence that...they might not truly deserve. A difficult read, but a good one.

This book has so much to offer!!! Dewey is so so optimistic about the public, but I got behind it tbh. If you're uncomfortable with seeing the world through an ideological lens, read up! It may be impossible for his propositions to ever become a reality but a girl can dream \_(ツ)_/
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John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey, along with Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, is recognized as one of the founders of the philosophy of pragmatism and of functional psychology. He was a major representative of the progressive and progressive populist philosophies of
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