For decades American students of social and political theory have looked to Europe for guidance and inspiration and have spent little or no time exploring the American tradition, except to dismiss most of it. Jason Kosnoski's trenchant analysis of John Dewey's aesthetics, epistemology and educational ideas argues that the American philosopher, John Dewey, deserves our attention, not only because he ... Read moreanticipates the writing of Habermas and Bauman, among others, but remains contemporary to our own times. What distinguishes this brilliant and balanced account is its clarity and persuasiveness. While making no attempt to provide a detailed refutation of Dewey's critics, Kosnoski's analysis, and careful avoidance of polemic constitutes, in effect, a commentary on the one-sidedness of Dewey criticism. One of the most original aspects of the book is its fertile use of Dewey's Art and Experience, thereby breaking down the wall between aesthetics and politics.
Stanley Aronowitz, CUNY Graduate Center, author of From the Ashes of the Old: American Labor and America's Future This book does an excellent job bringing together the radical strands of Deweyan political theory and neo-Habermasian social thought, and will make a significant contribution to contemporary political theorizing on the possibilities of critique in a 'post-ethical world.' Kosnoski sketches a persuasive account of the radical nature of Dewey's thought, and emphasizes the importance of cultivating critical thinking as the primary method for reinvigorating contemporary democratic practice. This is more than an analysis of Dewey; rather, it provides an original account of democratic theory that differs from a number of existing approaches. I suspect this book will work well in graduate courses, advanced undergraduate courses, and as a source for scholarly research theorizing democratic practice.
Ernesto Verdeja, University of Notre Dame This book advances the ambitious aim of constructing a concrete ethical life of democratic justice in the face of social liquidity. Such ambition raises the stakes....Kosnoski's innovative reading of Dewey and analysis of the lived experience of communication are highly valuable for anyone interested in democratic history.
Political Theory
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