La Opinion Publica y Sus Problemas (Spanish Translation of The Public and Its Problems) (review)

^0 human alienation from nature and nature as transfigured by social develop- ^ ment. Rescher's discussion and examples do not debate the relative merits of ^-, the various perceptions of nature and its relation to human being, though in ^ the end he does urge on us an "enlightened pragmatism" that will treat ^ nature not simply as the environing condition in which people act, but as a source of value and an ideal. In this respect Rescher ends the book at a point not dissimilar from where it began with Goodman's account of Emerson and Thoreau. Nature in American Philosophy is on the whole a book that rewards the reader's close attention. As an exploration of a central theme in American philosophy it is to be welcomed. There should be more like it. John Ryder The State University of New York, john.ryder@suny.edu Translated, and with an introduction by Ramon Del Castillo La Opinion Publica y Sus Problemas (Spanish Translation of The Public and Its Problems).. (Madrid: Ediciones Morata, 2004) 187pp. Every year there are more Spanish translations of important texts in American philosophy. Spain has become the center of collaborative worldwide efforts to translate and re-evaluate pragmatism as a viable philosophy. (See, for example, the work done at the Universidad of Navarra: http:// www.unav.es/gep/). The Spanish translation of The Public and its Problems is a noteworthy contribution to making Dewey's views on democracy accessible to a widet audience. However, for those already familiar with Dewey's book, the most important contribution is Ramon Del Castillo's introduction. In fact, the introduction is a 55-page critical analysis of Dewey on democracy and it appears in the volume as "estudio preliminary," which means "preliminary inquiry." The translation of Dewey's book is accurate, and the translator's desire to capture the meaning of Dewey's words precisely is made obvious by their choice of the title. The title "La Opinion Publica y Sus Problemas", literaUy means "The Public Opinions and its Problems," and is a better translation than its literal counterpart because, as Del Castillo explains (p. 11), in Spanish the word for "public" connotes a passive, mass, or consumer mentality that Dewey was against. The title of Del Castillo's introduction, is "Once upon a time in America : John Dewey and the Crisis in Democracy."This essay provides the reader with the historical and philosophical context in which to understand Dewey's text while also provoking us to think about the contemporary relevance of Dewey's work. The Public and its Problems is both a diagnosis of a crisis of democracy and a defense of democracy in the midst of the social, tn m economical, and technological changes that occurred in 1927. It is well 7° hi known that Dewey wrote this book in part as a response to Walter Lipp- . man's elitist view of democracy. Dewey did not share Lippman's pessimism that, in light of present conditions, citizens lack the required capacities for a direct participation in a democratic process. How can two thinkers faced with the same realities come to such disparate conclusions? Del Castillo answers with a careful and insightful analysis that goes beyond the mere assertion that Dewey just had more faith in the people than Lippman. He argues that there are significant philosophical differences between these two thinkers. Dewey did not share the dualism between knowledge and opinion, information and emotion, thought and habit that underlie Lippman's arguments . If the mass of people tend to be swayed by propaganda and emotional appeals, it is not because they lack a "rational" standpoint only available to the intellectual elite. To live a more reflective or intelligent way of live is a matter of habits, i.e., of improving the ways of thinking, imagining , feeling, and communication of the public. One virtue of Del Castillo's introduction is that he refers to other works by Dewey to clarify notions that are central to Dewey's book, such as "public ," "private"(p.36), "science" (p.25—26), and "community" (p.4I—42). Such references protect the reader against some common misunderstandings of the text. For instance, Del Castillo...