CORNELL STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY
No. 11
FORMERLY FELLOW IN THE SAGE SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY
A THESIS
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of
Cornell University in Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor
of Philosophy
NEW YORK
LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO.
1919
PRESS OF
THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY
LANCASTER, PA.
It seems unnecessary to offer an apology for an historical treatment ofProfessor Dewey's logical theories, since functionalism glories in thegenetic method. To be sure, certain more extreme radicals are opposed toa genetic interpretation of the history of human thought, but this isinconsistent. At any rate, the historical method employed in thefollowing study may escape censure by reason of its simple character,for it is little more than a critical review of Professor Dewey'swritings in their historical order, with no discussion of influences andconnections, and with little insistence upon rigid lines of development.It is proposed to "follow the lead of the subject-matter" as far aspossible; to discover what topics interested Professor Dewey, how hedealt with them, and what conclusions he arrived at. This plan has anespecial advantage when applied to a body of doctrine which, likeProfessor Dewey's, does not possess a systematic form of its own, sinceit avoids the distortion which a more rigid method would be apt to produce.
It has not been possible, within the limits of the present study, totake note of all of Professor Dewey's writings, and no reference hasbeen made to some which are of undoubted interest and importance. Amongthese may be mentioned especially his books and papers on educationaltopics and a number of his ethical writings. Attention has been devotedalmost exclusively to those writings which have some important bearingupon his logical theory. The division into chapters is partly arbitrary,although the periods indicated are quite clearly marked by the differentdirections which Professor Dewey's interests took from time to time. Itwill be seen that there is considerable chance for error indistinguishing between the important and the unimportant, and inselecting the essays which lie in the natural line of the author'sdevelopment. But, valeat quantum, as William James would say.
The criticisms and comments which have been made from time to time, asseemed appropriate, may be considered pertinent or irrelevant accordingto the views of the reader. It is hoped that[Pg iv] they are not entirelyaside from the mark, and that they do not interfere with a fairpresentation of the author's views. The last chapter is devoted to adirect criticism of Professor Dewey's functionalism, with some commentson the general nature of philosophical method.
Since this thesis was written, Professor Dewey has published two orthree books and numerous articles, which are perhaps more important thanany of his previous writings. The volume of Essays in ExperimentalLogic (1916) is a distinct advance upon The Influence of Darwin onPhilosophy and Other Essays, published six years earlier. Most of theseessays, however, are considered here in their original form, and the newmaterial, while interesting, presents no vital change of standpoint.