John Dewey's Logical Theory

This 1883 thesis offers one of the earliest sustained examinations of John Dewey's philosophical project, written when Dewey himself was still forging the ideas that would later define American pragmatism. Delton Thomas Howard approaches Dewey's logical theory through a historical lens, tracing the evolution of his thought without forcing artificial development onto it. The work centers on what Howard identifies as the crucial heart of Dewey's philosophy: the psychological method that bridges human experience to the very formulation of knowledge and reality. Howard begins with Dewey's early articles, where the argument emerges that reality must be understood not through abstract metaphysical speculation but through the concrete lens of human experience. The text then moves through fundamental tensions that would consume Dewey's later work: the relationship between subject and object, the negotiation between individual and universal consciousness, and psychology's role in grounding philosophical inquiry. For anyone seeking to understand the roots of Dewey's educational philosophy or the foundations of American pragmatism, this early critical engagement remains essential reading.