Northwest American Philosophy Reading Group
"Competing Interpretations of Dewey"
Saturday, October 28, 2006
10:00 am - 5:00 pm, with lunch and dinner
Yachats, Oregon

The Northwest American Philosophy Reading Group is meeting again this fall at Yachats, Oregon, on Saturday, October 28. This is an informal day-long discussion of a few readings in American philosophy. Everyone is welcome to join the conversation. Last year, a number of graduate students rented a house together, joined the reading group on Saturday, and spent the weekend at the coast. Please let Scott Pratt (spratt@uoregon.edu) know if you plan on attending so that there will be enough food for everyone.

This year, Mat Foust (mfoust@uoregon.edu)has offered to coordinate graduate student housing, and Mat wants to emphasize that you shouldn't worry if you don't "specialize" in American philosophy; all that is required is an interest in the topics that will be discussed and a willingness to talk about them with other interested people - at the coast! Because Mat has taken on the responsibility of renting a house for graduate students to stay in overnight, he will need to have some idea as soon as possible of how many graduate students will attend. This way, he can get to work on securing a house that will accommodate all, and find the most affordable rate possible. The cost per person was astonishingly manageable last year, and we expect the same to be true this time around.

Copies of the following papers will be available (Please note that the first four are the essays that will be discussed; taking up the background readings might be helpful but is, -- and this word is used mostly to amuse Adam --, supererogatory.):

Charlene Haddock Seigfried, “John Dewey's Pragmatist Feminism,” in Larry A. Hickman, ed. Reading Dewey: Interpretations for a Postmodern Generation. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998, pp. 187-216.

Hickman, Larry A., “Tuning Up Technology,” in Philosophical Tools for Technological Culture: Putting Pragmatism to Work. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001, pp. 8-43.

Alexander, Thomas M. “Dewey’s Denotative-Empirical Method: A Thread Through the Labyrinth” Journal of Speculative Philosophy, Vol. 18, No. 3, The Pennsylvania State University, 2004, pp. 248-256.

Alexander, Thomas M. “The Art of Life: Dewey’s Aesthetics,” in Larry A. Hickman, ed. Reading Dewey: Interpretations for a Postmodern Generation. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998, pp. 1-22.

*Background Readings from Dewey’s Collected Works:*

“Experience and Philosophic Method” in Experience and Nature (LW 1: 10-41).

“Having an Experience” in Art as Experience/ (LW 10:42-63)

“The Pattern of Inquiry” from Logic: The Theory of Inquiry/ (LW 12:105-123).

“The Supremacy of Method” and “The Construction of Good” from /The Quest for Certainty (LW 4:178-228).

“Existence, Value and Criticism” from Experience and Nature/ (LW 1:295-326).

“Natural Development and Social Efficiency as Aims” from /Democracy and Education/ (MW 10:202-210).

“Philosophy and Democracy” (MW 11:42-54)

“The Basic Values and Loyalties of Democracy” (LW 14:276-278)

If you have any questions, please ask Scott Pratt (spratt@uoregon.edu) or Mat Foust (mfoust@uoregon.edu).