Research On John Dewey’s Democratic Thought

John Dewey(1859—1952)is a great American philosopher,educator and thinker in modern times.He can be called "the foremost democratic philosopher in the 20 th century",and is praised as "the conscience of the American people" and "the man who illuminates the path of democratic ethics".The influence of Dewey’s democratic thought can be felt in American politics,economy,education,social life and other fields.Different from other scholars’ understanding of democracy,Dewey believed that democracy could not only be limited to the political field.He tried to elaborate a comprehensive democracy,which not only included the democratic issues concerned by the traditional political field,but also provided a democratic understanding for the economy,society,education and other fields,and reflected and applied the principles of democracy in every field of life.Promoting the realization of democracy is the gist of Dewey’s democratic thought.It is of great significance to study Dewey’s democratic thought to promote the process of democratic political construction in developing countries and to promote the realization of democracy in every field of life.John Dewey’s life was long and extraordinary.He lived in an era that spanned the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.His multiple social identities and rich practical experiences provided the soil for the germination and development of Dewey’s democratic thought.The backward cultural development is the historical background of Dewey’s democratic thought.Hegel’s philosophy,biological evolution,functional psychology and other theories as well as the traditional American political ideas are the ideological sources of the formation of Dewey’s democratic thought.The development of Dewey’s political thought went through three stages: idealism,pragmatism and democracy.In this process of development,what remains unchanged is his persistent pursuit and firm practice of democracy.The main content of Dewey’s democratic thought is the key content of the discussion.Dewey pays attention to the real life,the relationship between man and man,man and society,and emphasizes the trust in human nature.This pragmatism forms the philosophical basis of his democratic thought.He advocated the comprehensive democracy including political democracy,economic democracy,social democracy and educational democracy,and advocated the progressive way of democratic education to promote the development of democratic society,to establish a "democratic community",to achieve the goal of human development,on this basis,summed up the practical and comprehensive characteristics of Dewey’s democratic thought.On the one hand,Dewey’s democratic thought promoted the turning point of the development of American democracy,enhanced the practicality of democracy,and provided experience for the construction of democratic politics in the contemporary world.On the other hand,his democratic thought is still bourgeois democracy in nature,with a certain color of idealism.Dewey’s democratic thought also has a certain value,it enlightens the developing countries in the world today in the process of democratic political construction should promote the reform of political system,improve the democratic operation mechanism;Focusing on individual freedom and fully guaranteeing democracy for members of society;Strengthen democracy education and build a high-quality democratic society.