Comparative Assessment in John Dewey, Confucius, and Global Philosophy

Introduction

Joseph Grange's book, John Dewey, Confucius, and Global Philosophy, seeks to create a dialogue between Dewey's pragmatism and Confucianism in order to analyze the two traditions and parse out their more salient, and similar, tenets. In order to provide a comparative analysis of Eastern and Western traditions, it is necessary to establish a starting point since they are inherently different due to the cultures in which they have traditionally been embedded.

Grange references the popular comparison of John Dewey to a "Second Confucius" and sets out to make a case for this comparison. Grange offers a comparative look at the philosophical underpinnings of Confucianism and the ways in which its more salient points can be interwoven with Dewey's thinking. Grange's goal is to weave together a tapestry that includes, in as equal measures as possible, the more salient points of Dewey's and Confucius's ways of seeing the world and how those worldviews can open up a new dialogue regarding the ultimate good for society.

Summary

Grange takes an economical approach to the book, acknowledging that the best route to saliency is trimming the fat from what could otherwise be a cumbersome topic. The study focuses on three main thematic points: experience, felt intelligence, and culture. Grange approaches his comparative exercise by introducing Dewey's main ideas and then responding to them by presenting similar Confucian principles. By parsing out paired themes in the two philosophies, Grange illustrates similarities and creates a dialogue between the two. Grange tells us that his "aim is to present these interwoven themes as a support system for a cross-cultural dialogue on global understanding" (xv). It is Grange's position that Western philosophy's systematic nature can be balanced out (yin and yang) by Chinese philosophy's demands for binary solutions.

In addressing the theme of experience, Grange explains that Dewey used the term "experience" for its broad meaning in order to indicate the vast possibilities that can be observed within humanity. What we experience can be expressed in the physical, psychological, and spiritual realms. The Confucian equivalent to experience is the Dao, or the Way, on which Confucian philosophy and its path for living are based. Grange describes experience as an event rather than a thing. Experience is what occurs within the context of other experiences and creates a ripple effect that, in turn, stimulates experience for others. Experience happens on the individual level, but all things are interdependent as well, so experience can evidence varying degrees of complexity. When new experience occurs, the newness of it forces growth and, thus, transformation. Our connection to the world is dependent upon our social conditioning, the environment in which the experience takes place, and the ways in which we bump into each other as these things occur. In Dewey's view, we are constantly engaged in experience and subjected to it, making us actors and reactors at the same time. Our best bet for harmony between the acting and reacting is to arrive at a level of experience whereby we have acquired the ability to gain perspective, and with perspective, the ability to reason out purpose from experience and seek further growth.

Dewey divides experience into two categories: instrumental and consummatory. Instrumental experience refers to the subject matter of each experience we will encounter, while consummatory experience refers to the deep values we feel through experience. The example that Grange offers is that of a piece of art and the artist's ability to take everyday objects that are recognizable (paint, paper, etc.) and transform them into a new object with variety and novelty: "A genuine consummatory experience dissolves separations and heals the splits in culture" (12).

Grange begins his contrast to Dewey's concept of experience by discussing the Dao (the Way) and the fact that the Way is created by the person who experiences it. In order to engage one's self with the Way, one must be engaged in the "matter at hand," which falls under Dewey's category of the instrumental experience. Second, Grange cites the concept...