Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5074921 | Geoforum | 2008 | 15 Pages |
John Dewey was the most significant and influential thinker associated with the American philosophy commonly known as pragmatism. Drawing on Dewey's writings as well as the work of Deweyan scholars, I endeavor to explain Dewey's unique contribution to philosophical discourse and how his overlooked scholarship can inform geographical inquiry. After an introduction, I provide a background understanding of Dewey and his context as well as the use of his philosophy in geography and sociology. I then turn to an exposition of Dewey's metaphysics which are the heart of his philosophy. My discussion breaks his metaphysics into four parts: nature and continuity, contingency and change, situated sociality, and transaction. The subsequent section argues for Dewey's distinction and value by arguing a particular implication of Dewey's work for geography-a reconceptualization of place-and more general propositions about what a Dewey-informed geography would, at minimum, entail. A brief conclusion summarizes the Deweyan vision in the context of geographical inquiry.