John Dewey Quotes
It is not so long ago, as years are reckoned, that a scientist in a physical or chemical laboratory was popularly regarded as a magician engaged in unlawful pursuits, or as in impious converse with evil spirits, about whom all sorts of detrimental stories were circulated and believed.
There has been a suspicion and distrust of scientist by the general population in almost all societies throughout human history. Dewey thought America was entering a new intellectual enlightenment and there was an improvement for a short time, but scientists then tended to come under two criticisms by the general public. One was the new “knowledge” they were claiming which not only contradicted much of general religious dogma, but change started coming so fast that people were told to reject that which only a few years earlier they were told to accept and vica versa. At the same time, some groups in society began to be distrustful of scientists because they did not appear to be controllable by the means and methods of the rest of the society and were viewed as “loose cannons” who might not fit into democratic society in the manner that the leaders of society wanted. Both suspicions have existed since then.
John Dewey, 1859-1952, Philosopher & Educator, “The Ethics of Animal Experimentation”, The Atlantic Monthly, September 1926
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Allen observed that atheists and irreligious people rarely believe in witchcraft. Even in free America, Allen had a very difficult time getting this work printed because it was so controversial culturally.
Even learned men with some science background believed in witches.
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century.
