progressivism, individualism, and the public ... - Telmarc Group

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PROGRESSIVISM, INDIVIDUALISM, AND THE PUBLIC
INTELLECTUAL
"…Dewey insists …that there is no conflict between the good of a fully developed
individual and the good of society. The child naturally wants "to serve" his fellows in
society and educators must understand that the "law" in intellectual and spiritual affairs is
"cooperation and participation"". 81
Thus for Dewey the child and perforce of age the adult, is there to serve his fellow
servers. The individual is there to serve the society and perforce of that has no rights unto
themselves. We shall return to this later.
4.3.5 The Public Intellectual
The public intellectual was a creation of the early 20th century and for the most part it
was populated by academics and their fellow travelers. Public intellectuals are best
characterized by the fact that they are purveyors of their ideas through the public media.
Rather than publishing in academic journals, the public intellectual is generally an
educated person who uses the media to present their ideas to the public. They are held in
some state of high esteem perforce of their position. They have ab initio a degree of
credence and respect based upon where they are employed or with what institution they
are affiliated with.
They are almost a creation of the times and circumstances as well of the ability of the
media to reach a larger public. In addition the public intellectual relies upon a public
which can read and comprehend, a rather strange contradiction to the assumptions of
Dewey and his education philosophy.
We also argue that Dewey and the other Progressive
As Hofstadter states:
"Professors in America had always had the status of hired men, but they never had
enough professional pride to express anything more than a rare momentary protest
against this condition. Now even though their professional situation was improving they
found themselves the resources to complain against their position; not the least of their
grievances was the fact that their professional affairs were under the control of the
plutocracy, since boards of trustees were often composed of those very businessmen who
in other areas of life were becoming suspect for their predatory and immoral lives. 82 "
Indeed the movement of the public intellectual was driven by the resentment of the
professors to those who fed them, namely those who controlled industries. One can see
this in Dewey to some degree. It is not as if he brought in funds for research as is
81 Fott p 36.
82 See Hofstadter TAR pp 154-155.
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