| The visit to China of the American philosopher, John Dewey (May 1919-July 1921), coincided with the May Fourth Movement--a nationalistic reaction against foreign domination and a movement for cultural reform. This study focuses on Dewey's social and political philosophy in relation to his encounter with China during this period. It views his relationship to China through several lenses: the articles he wrote for American journals his personal correspondence his lectures on social and political philosophy the lives and work of two of his former students the ongoing debate among western scholars about its significance.It is concerned with the themes of unity and division, continuity and change, development and growth: Dewey's search for a way to heal divisions in the western intellectual tradition, in contrast to the erosion of the unified Confucian universe under western pressure the growth of Dewey's understanding of the events he witnessed, and the ways in which his experience in China affected the development of his social and political thought and his late naturalistic-esthetic vision. Dewey's lectures are examined both in terms of those aspects that are consistent with his philosophy, and those that were distorted in the interpretation-translation-recording process. Dewey's philosophy is discussed in relation to the differing interpretations of two of his former students--Hu Shih, a professor at Peking University, who claimed to be the spokesman in China for Dewey's ideas, and T'ao Hsing-chih, a rural educational reformer, whose independent development more closely resembled Dewey in spirit. The dialogue among western scholars centers on the relevance of Dewey's theories to China and the question of whether the May Fourth period was a litmus test for his philosophy. Dewey's encounter with China raises issues of universal human significance--including the applicability of a liberal and democratic philosophy in an illiberal environment. |
