Naturalizing philosophy of education

by Jerome A. Popp

Jerome A. Popp examines the role of Dewey-based pragmatism in the past, present, and future of philosophy of education. He insists that even though Marxian utopian thought subjugated Dewey's ideas during the 1970s, Dewey's epistemological arguments are directly relevant to contemporary philosophy. He contends that not only are Dewey's arguments related to how we think about philosophy of education, but they actually improve the thinking reflected in the literature. He demonstrates that Dewey's arguments provide the basis for both a rejuvenated account of conceptual analysis and a criticism of the utopian relativism currently dominating the literature. As one of his major themes, Popp presents a developed account of the nature of a priori knowledge, which is subsequently used to distinguish various approaches to philosophy of education. He provides an alternative way to think about value theory and a critique of contemporary educational claims.