Creative Democracy

"Creative Democracy: The Task Before Us" is a 1939 essay by American philosopher John Dewey.^[1] Dewey's essay was originally delivered as a speech by philosopher Horace Kallen on October 20, 1939, at a dinner in honor of Dewey's 80th birthday that he was unable to attend. Dewey argues that democracy is a way of life and an experience built on faith in human nature, faith in human beings, and faith in working with others.^[2] Democracy, in Dewey's view, is a moral ideal requiring actual effort and work by people; it is not an institutional concept that exists outside of ourselves. "The task of democracy", Dewey concludes, "is forever that of creation of a freer and more humane experience in which all share and to which all contribute."^[3]

Publication history

• Dewey, John. 1939. John Dewey and the Promise of America, Progressive Education Booklet No. 14. Columbus, Ohio: American Education Press.

See also

• Associative democracy
• Deliberative democracy
• The Public and its Problems

Notes

1. Bernstein 2000, 215-228.
2. Kadlec 2007, 125.
3. Dewey 1939

References

• Bernstein, Richard J. 2000. Creative Democracy—The Task Still Before Us. American Journal of Theology & Philosophy 21, no. 3 (September): 215-228.JSTOR 27944123 (subscription required)
• Kadlec, Alison. 2007. Dewey's Critical Pragmatism. Lexington Books. ISBN 0739115499.