The Early Works, 1882-1898: 1895-1898. Early essays

Book excerpt: This fifth and concluding volume of The Early Works of John Dewey is the only one of the series made up entirely of essays. The appear-ance during the four-year period, 1895-98, of thirty-eight items amply indicates that Dewey continued to maintain a high level of published out-put. These were the years of Dewey's most extensive work and involvement at the University of Chicago. Like its predecessors in this series, this volume presents a clear text, free of interpretive or reference material. Apparatus, including references, corrections, and emendations, is confined to appendix material. Fredson Bowers, the Consulting Textual Editor, has provided an essay on the textual principles and procedures, and William P. McKenzie, Professor of Philoso-phy and Education at Southern Illinois University, has written an introduc-tion identifying the thread connecting the apparently diffuse material in the many articles of this volume--Dewey's attempt to unite philosophy with psychology and sociology and with education.