John Dewey: Rethinking Our Time

A concise, eminently readable introduction to the thought of America's most prominent philosopher.

Written in a manner accessible to non-specialists, this book provides an introduction to all areas central to John Dewey's philosophy: aesthetics, social and political philosophy, education, the philosophy of religion, and theory of knowledge. Boisvert situates Dewey as a thinker who could appreciate the advance of science while remaining an "empirical naturalist" committed to the revelatory powers of lived experience.

“Ray Boisvert describes his little book as a ‘primer,’ whose ‘aim is to serve as a brief and generally accessible introduction to Dewey’s philosophy.’ He succeeds admirably … Boisvert, while also limiting himself to exposition, attempts to articulate Dewey’s thinking in terms of the philosophic and public discourse of our time.” — International Studies in Philosophy

"This book is superbly written: clear, elegant, scholarly. It is a model of lucidity by a major Dewey scholar. It is far better than anything else in print as an introduction to the thought of John Dewey. Boisvert illuminates themes in Dewey with a variety of highly interesting examples drawn from literature, contemporary French and British philosophy, and science. This will be the book people will buy to get an overview of a major American philosopher." -- Thomas Alexander, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

"This book helpfully integrates Dewey's diverse theories in terms of three central themes that reappear throughout his wide-ranging thought: the rejection of simple, monistic solutions, the challenging of purificationist reductions, and the refusal of disembodied idealisms. The author touches on all of the major areas where Dewey made a significant contribution to philosophy, from metaphysics and theory of knowledge to ethics, politics, and the philosophy of art, education, and religion." -- Richard Shusterman, Temple University