Comment On Dewey's New Individualism

Individualism is the core of American culture. John Dewey's new individualism is based on the specific historical and cultural bases of the United States. However, Dewey's new individualism is not only the simple integration and continuation of the historical and cultural tradition, but it is an innovation and reconstruction of the traditional individualist culture during the switch of the epoch and is a basic component of Dewey's whole ideological system. Dewey lived in an epoch when the American liberal capitalism was going toward the monopolist capitalism. He had a keen historical sense for the epoch he lived in. At that time, individualism was increasingly becoming stiff, and was going to extremity. One-sided pursuit for individual interests was overemphasized, and individuals' necessity was considered the greatest goal pursued in man's life. This led to individuals' confinement, isolation and conservativeness, and led to the fact that a minority of people sacrificed interests of a majority of people for the former wanted to obtain monopolist freedom and the greatest economic benefits. Such a situation caused great damages for the orderly development of American economy and the social stability. At that time, such individualism fell into crises and people tried to look for a new kind of values to replace individualism. On the problem of looking for a way to get rid of crises, Dewey chose a way to rebuild individualism and put forward his idea of creating the new individualism. In this thesis, based on the past discussion of the academic circle, a further study has been made on Dewey's related works. In the analysis framework of the American ideological history and the development history of the capitalist system, the historical background, personal conditions and cultural heritage on the generation of Dewey's new individualist ideology have been formulated. Main principles of Dewey's new individualist ideology have been analyzed and related comments have been made on them. It is emphasized in the thesis that Dewey's new individualist ideology takes pragmatism as the instructive direction of its theoretical framework and takes the fundamental values --- individualism --- since modern times of the West and the USA as its basic kernel. It is not correct whether simple criticism and denial are adopted for Dewey's individualist ideology or his ideology is blindly worshiped and pursued. The western individualism and its values, in a sense, have internal connection with the western market economy. Though China's market economy has changed from the single planned economy to the market economy, it is bound to cause deep changes in areas of law and morality. This does not mean that we should introduce the western individualism and Dewey's new individualism when we are developing our socialist market economy. On the contrary, we should firmly oppose the passive side and the limitation of Dewey's new individualism. At the same time, the western individualism, including Dewey's new individualism cannot replace the axis and soul of China's socialist moral system ---collectivism. However, Dewey criticized the out-of-date content and the faults of individualism and put forward his new individualism. As a piece of ideological and cultural heritage in man's historical progress course, his ideology has positive factors, and they have a certain meaning for us to learn from when we are conducting reforms and open-up policy in our modern construction. At the same time, after we have made comments on Dewey's new individualist ideology, we can get a clear understanding on the generation of his new individualist ideology and its basic principles. This also has significant meanings when we are making deeper understandings on the moral principles of collectivism.