China’s pragmatist experiment: Hu Shih’s pragmatism and Dewey’s influence in China

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

9-2004

Abstract

In the 1920s, John Dewey's followers in China, led by his student Hu Shih, attempted to put his pragmatism into practice in their quest for democracy. This essay compares Hu Shih's thought, especially his emphasis on pragmatism as method, with Dewey's philosophical positions and evaluates Hu's achievement as a pragmatist in the context of the tumultuous times he lived in. It assesses Hu's claim that the means to democracy lies in education rather than politics, since democracy as a way of life requires a cultural renewal beyond institutional changes. It argues that a problem‐centered approach to social change does not preclude radical action, even revolution. But pragmatism is against gratuitous use of violence in the service of wholesale and abstract ideals advocated by various “isms.” While Hu's experiment of democracy in China is a significant episode in the history of pragmatism, its “failure” does not prove that there are inherent flaws in the pragmatist method, that pragmatism is unviable for China. The failure needs to be understood in the context of the pragmatist conception of experiment, in which failures are to be expected; what is important is to learn from them to achieve better results in the next stage of inquiry. Hu Shih's pragmatism contains lessons for pragmatists and for those interested in the continued quest for democracy in China—the experiment continues.

Discipline

Arts and Humanities

Research Areas

Humanities

Publication

The Range of Pragmatism and the Limits of Philosophy

Editor

Richard Shusterman

ISBN

9781405121231

Identifier

10.1111/j.1467-9973.2004.00305.x

Publisher

Blackwell

City or Country

Oxford

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9973.2004.00305.x

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