Review by Choice Review
Rogers (Univ. of Virginia) pursues the ambitious task of rehumanizing the most humanistic of all philosophers. In so doing, he challenges interpretations of John Dewey that suggest that by ignoring contingency, the ever-present reality of human limits, and the importance of faith to the human experience, Dewey fails to articulate a convincing account of the human experience. Rogers argues that depictions of Dewey as the breezy lover of a unified scientific democracy forever progressing toward a cheerful world of our own making ignore his intellectual indebtedness to Darwin's demonstration of the radically undetermined character of nature and, therefore, history. Rogers demonstrates that Dewey does, in fact, account for contingency in the open-endedness of nature itself. The result is that Rogers depicts a darker, more profound, and more fully human Dewey. Rogers's task is a tall one, and ultimately it will not fully convince Dewey's detractors who dismiss him as unserious. But as a corrective to prevailing strains of thought, the book is a welcome and thoughtful contribution. Unfortunately, by engaging Dewey's critics so thoroughly, the author misses the opportunity to introduce the undiscovered Dewey to a broader audience. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate, research, and professional collections. M. E. Bailey Berry College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
