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The Public and Its Problems


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      THE PUBLIC AND ITS PROBLEMS

       THE PUBLIC AND ITS PROBLEMS

      An Essay in Political Inquiry

       John Dewey

      Edited and with an Introduction by Melvin L. Rogers

      SWALLOW PRESS

      ATHENS, OHIO

      Swallow Press An imprint of Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701 ohioswallow.com

      Copyright © 1927 by Henry Holt and Company Copyright © 1954 by Mrs. John Dewey This edition copyright © 2016 by Ohio University Press All rights reserved

      To obtain permission to quote, reprint, or otherwise reproduce or distribute material from Swallow Press / Ohio University Press publications, please contact our rights and permissions department at (740) 593-1154 or (740) 593-4536 (fax).

      Portions of Melvin L. Rogers’s introduction first appeared in “Introduction: Revisiting The Public and Its Problems” and “John Dewey and His Vision of Democracy,” both in “Revisiting The Public and Its Problems,” special issue, Contemporary Pragmatism 7, no. 1 (2011): 1–9, 69–92.

      Printed in the United States of America Swallow Press / Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper

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       Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Dewey, John, 1859–1952, author. | Rogers, Melvin L., editor.

      Title: The public and its problems : an essay in political inquiry / John Dewey; edited and with an introduction by Melvin L. Rogers.

      Description: Athens, Ohio : Swallow Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2016020374| ISBN 9780804011662 (paperback) | ISBN 9780804040730 (pdf)

      Subjects: LCSH: Democracy. | Political science. | State, The. | BISAC: POLITICAL SCIENCE / General.

      Classification: LCC JC251 .D47 2016 | DDC 321.8—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016020374

       printed with season’s grant Figure Foundation oneness of states, full unity

       Contents

       Acknowledgments

       Chronology

       Editorial Note

       Introduction: Revisiting The Public and Its Problems

       Melvin L. Rogers

      John Dewey, The Public and Its Problems: An Essay in Political Inquiry

       Foreword (1927)

       Introduction (1946)

       1. Search for the Public

      Divergence of facts and theoretical interpretations concerning the nature of the state. Practical import of theories. Theories in terms of causal origin. Theory in terms of perceived consequences. Distinction of private and public substituted for that of individual and social. The influence of association. Plurality of associations. Criterion of the public. Function of the state. The state as an experimental problem. Summary.

       2. Discovery of the State

      Public and state. Geographical extent. Multiplicity of states. Spread of consequences. Law is not command. Law and reasonableness. The public and long-established habits of action. Fear of the new. Irreparable consequences. Variation of state-functions according to circumstances of time and place. State and government. State and society. The pluralistic theory.

       3. The Democratic State

      Private and representative rôles of officials. Selection of rulers by irrelevant methods. The problem of control of officials. Meanings of democracy. Fallacy as to origin of democratic government. Influence of non-political factors. The origin of “individualism.” Influence of the new industry; the theory of “natural” economic laws. James Mill’s philosophy of democratic government. Criticism of “individualism.” Criticism of antithesis of natural and artificial. Wants and aims as functions of social life. Persistence of pre-industrial institutions. Final problem.

       4. The Eclipse of the Public

      Local origin of American democratic government. National unification due to technological factors. Submergence of the public. Disparity of inherited ideas and machinery with actual conditions. Illustrations of resulting failures. Problem of discovering the public. Democracy versus the expert. Explanation of eclipse of public. Illustrated by the World War. Application of criteria of the public. Failure of traditional principles. Political apathy accounted for. Need of experts. Rivals of political interest. Ideals and instrumentalities.

       5. Search for the Great Community

      Democracy as idea and as governmental behavior. Problem of the Great Community. Meaning of the democratic ideal. Democracy and community life. Community and associated activity. Communication and the community. Intellectual conditions of the Great Community. Habit and intelligence. Science and knowledge. Limitations upon social inquiry. Isolation of social inquiry. Pure and applied science. Communication and public opinion. Limitations of distribution of knowledge. Communication as art.

       6. The Problem of Method

      Antithesis between individual and social as obstruction to method. Meaning of individual. Where opposition lies. Meaning of absolutistic logic. Illustration from doctrine of “evolution.” From psychology. Difference of human and physical science. Experimental inquiry as alternative. Method, and government by experts. Democracy and education by discussion. The level of intelligence. The necessity of local community life. Problem of restoration. Tendencies making for reëstablishment. Connection of this problem with the problem of political intelligence.

       Editor’s Notes

       Bibliographical Essay

       Index

       Acknowledgments

      I would like to thank former students at Carleton College (2005–7) for their suggestions on the introduction. I extend thanks to Kendra Boileau of Penn State University Press, Gillian Berchowitz of Ohio University Press for her commitment to the project,