A Study of the Significance of Public and Moral Inquiry in John Dewey' Philosophy of Education and his Contemporary Followers

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The purpose of this study is to construct a public theory of education as an integration of Dewey's theory of education and his theory of public and moral inquiry and to propose a new theory of "transformative self" based on reflective intelligence and cross-categorical thinking.In the first year, I examined the social, moral and legal views inherent in Dewey's theory of "intelligent pacifism," which proposed to solve social and moral conflicts caused by America's participation in World War I. I also clarified his theory of "embodied intelligence," in which the cooperation between reflection and making (poiesis) functions to construct a foundation of moral growth.In the second year, firstly, I studied the relationship between Dewey's philosophy of education and his political theory, which share the idea of democracy as a common element. I suggest that communicative inquiry plays an important role to connect between personal intelligence and public aspect of intelligence or public opinion. Secondly, R.Kegan's theory of "evolving self" was examined as an extension of Dewey's theory of experiential self, in which the imaginative process of cross-categorical knowing makes possible the development of what he calls "interindividual self."In the third year, I reexamined the dilemma inhering in Dewey's method of conflict-solving, which he proposed during World War II. I stress that his theory of "practical idealism" during the War failed to suggest a viable method to avoid war as a means to construct a peaceful relationship among nations. Finally, I examined the role of imaginative intelligence, which functions as a vehicle to connect other person's experience and to learn from different cultures. Cross-categorical knowing and border-crossing involved in imaginative intelligence should be a solid foundation for our moral growth.