The pragmatic foundations of John Dewey's understanding of democracy

With a method based on experience, Pragmatism was an attempt to resolve the tension between theory and practice. Pragmatists, with an approach that evaluates the success of theories and beliefs by the outcomes of their practical application, attempted to overcome the problems caused by the traditional philosophy. Dewey expanded this philosophy, which only dealt with the problems of meaning and truth in the beginning, and made it the basis of his understanding of liberal democracy. Pragmatism allowed him to resolve the dualities in classical liberalism, such as the individual-community and individual freedom-authority. This thesis focuses on John Dewey's understanding of democracy and It's pragmatic foundations. The first chapter examines the promises of pragmatism, which originated as the critique of traditional philosophy, and It's transformation until Dewey. In the second chapter, we will be investigating Dewey's attempt of reconstructing the liberal democracy.