John Dewey (1859–1952), an American psychologist, philosopher, educator, and social critic, was born in Burlington, Vermont, on October 20, 1859. In 1879, he graduated from the University of Vermont, where he was greatly influenced by the work of T. H. Huxley, the English evolutionist. After teaching high school for two years, Dewey decided to study philosophy. He completed his Ph.D. studies in 1884 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. During his studies, he was greatly influenced by Hegelian philosophy rooted in German idealism, and experimental psychology, which could be used to apply scientific methodology to the human sciences.

He taught at the University of Michigan from 1884 to 1894, with a one-year break at the University of Minnesota in 1888. He left the University of ...