"The Greatest Evil Is Not Found in Poverty": An Analysis of Dewey on Inequality

• In Event: Contemporary Applications and Analyses of Dewey's Philosophy of Education

Abstract

John Dewey makes the curious claim in Democracy and Education that “greatest evil of the present régime is not found in poverty ... but in the fact that so many persons have callings which make no appeal to them, which are pursued simply for the money reward that accrues” (MW9, p. 326-327). In this paper, I intend to explore this quotation, looking for its deeper meaning within the context of Democracy and Education as well as Dewey’s larger corpus. . I argue that Dewey’s understanding of vocation provides critical resources to help address pressing questions of poverty and inequality today.

Author

• Roudy Hildreth, University of Colorado Boulder