The Cambridge Companion to Dewey

In a typical book review, I would look for and examine what is new about a particular thinker’s idea or presentation. However, as I read Th e Cambridge Companion to Dewey I fi nd that I cannot and should not use the same criteria for evaluation. I pick up a Cambridge Companion when I need an introduction or a refresher on material—not when I need to see what the cutting-edge scholarship is. Th at being said, a companion ought not propagate the status quo or fail to communicate what is current in the understanding of a fi gure or an area. Th erefore, a companion ought, fi rst, to provide an adequate introduction to a literate, but inexpert, person to the fi eld it purports to introduce. Second, a companion should show the diversity of thought about a subject—what are the controversies and various thoughts about a fi gure that one might encounter. I do not expect every heterodox reading of a fi gure, but I would desire to know various understandings of that fi gure. Finally, a companion should impart the tools to start independent research on the fi gure in question. With this in mind, I turn to Th e Cambridge Companion to Dewey. Robert Westbrook’s biographical chapter is accessible and informative. His discussion of the role of Dewey’s fi rst wife Alice and his political awareness in Chicago is instructive on how deeply democratic social life informs Dewey’s thought. Ruth Anna Putnam’s contribution to the volume is laudatory. While using the general language of contemporary philosophy, she dissolves many of the problems analytic philosophers might have in interpreting Dewey’s language. It is also noteworthy that Putnam acknowledges Dewey’s similarities and indebtedness to