From Absolute Idealism to Instrumentalism: The Problem of Dewey's Early Philosophy

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Welchman, Jennifer

• One of the great unsolved mysteries of Dewey scholarship is the date of Dewey's rejection of absolute idealism. The earliest explicit indication that a break had occurred appeared in the 1903 Studies in Logical Theory. Presumably, Dewey had converted from idealism to instrumentalism sometime prior to 1903. However, none of Dewey's earlier publications publicly announce his conversion, nor did Dewey provide a date in his later autobiographical writings. Dating Dewey's rejection of idealism is further complicated by the fact that Dewey continued to use the technical vocabulary of absolute idealism in his early instrumentalist texts. The continuity of Dewey's language effectively disguises the changes that occurred in his thinking prior to 1903.

• Date created

  1989

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Ethics
  • Inference
  • Philosophical Analysis
  • Empiricism
  • Subjective Idealism
  • Existence
  • Environmental Ethics
  • Absolute Idealism
  • Philosophical Psychology
  • Idealism

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R36T0H983

• License

  © 1989 Indiana University Press. This article was published as \"Jennifer Welchman. From Absolute Idealism to Instrumentalism: The Problem of Dewey's Early Philosophy. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society Vol. 25, No. 4 (Fall, 1989), pp. 407-419.\" No part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or distributed in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photographic, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Indiana University Press. For education reuse, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center <http://www.copyright.com/>. For all other permissions, contact IU Press at <http://iupress.indiana.edu/rights/>.