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.