The Place of Theological Attitude and Evolutionary Theory in John Dewey's Thought

Journal of Philosophical Investigations 15 (37):302-325 (2021)
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Abstract

According to Darwin's theory of evolution, John Dewey wanted to change the way we look at the world around us. In the pre-modern days, he strived to achieve the promise of modernity, which was progress and advancement in all fields. Dewey not only foresaw such a step, but also studied the way through it. In this article, we begin with the years when Dewey was an ardent Christian, and deal with the time when he became fascinated with the evolutionary sciences and developed his theory of "experience" with a rationalist approach. According to Dewey's naturalistic approach to man, we are confronted with religious experiences that, in the evolutionary process, are a response to basic human needs and have emerged in the context of different cultures in the form of different religions. In Dewey's view, "religious experience" is a personal dream of man. God, the Hereafter, religion and supernatural things are of this kind. These things are born of human exchange and adaptation to his environment. So for Dewey, there are no other worlds and worlds with different levels or parallel worlds that have recently been expressed on the basis of scientific hypotheses. Spirituality, religion and morality are all natural, experimental, real and of course valuable. Dewey considers man as an organism among millions of other living beings and in connection with them, and deals with the application and function of religious experiences in daily life.

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Seyedsaber Seyedi Fazlollahi
Islamic Azad University of Tehran (Alumnus)

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References found in this work

A Common Faith.John Dewey - 1934 - Yale University Press.
A Common Faith.John Dewey - 1935 - Philosophy 10 (38):235-236.
John Dewey and the High Tide of American Liberalism.Alan Ryan - 1998 - British Journal of Educational Studies 46 (1):103-104.
The Education of John Dewey: A Biography.Jay Martin - 2002 - Cambridge University Press.

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