Brett Gary Reading

Dewey-Lippmann Debate

John Dewey (1859-1952): Philosopher, educator.

The Public & Its Problems (1927)
Walter Lippmann (1889-1974): journalist, social
critic. Ex-CPI. Public Opinion (1922), The Phantom
Public (1925).

Basic Issue: Three developments in 1800’s/1900’s

A. Industrial Revolution
i. Mass Communications
ii. Mass Transportation
B. Mass Democracy- expansion of the franchise
C. Invention of Social Sciences, especially
psychology, which challenge rational Enlightenment
model of the citizen

Graham Wallas (1858-1932)- Both Dewey and

Lippmann inspired by his analysis The Great Society
(1914)
Consequences:
1. A & B (Ind. Rev. & Mass Democracy): decline of
small-scale, organic rural communities.
Transformation of people’s social networks/personal
relationships.
Ferdinand Tönnies/Max Weber: Gemeinschaft
(community) vs. Gesellschaft (society)
Community: pre-industrial, rural, small-scale,
static
Society: industrial, urban, huge, dynamic (lots of
mobility)
Dewey (p. 41): “The Great Society created by steam and
electricity may be a society, but it is no community. The invasion of
the community by the new and impersonal and mechanical modes
of combined human behavior is the outstanding fact of modern life.”

2. Psychology undermines rational model of citizen

on which the whole premise of democracy (esp. mass
democracy) is based.

Lippmann: Democratic Realist (in other words, a

realist about people’s cognitive limitations and the
transformation of life into an impersonal, urban,
industrial setting). Solution: Technocracy (both
official and also often unofficial, from the business
world, etc.) facilitated by journalists who transmit
decisions to public.

Public lives in an often “pseudo-environment” at

odds with science and constructed by stereotypes
(generalizations based on little or no empirical data).
Science and cultural refinement can help with this,
but Lippmann skeptical about ability of masses to
do this. Believes most are unredeemable. Key task of
technocrats is “manufacturing consent.”

Dewey: Democratic Idealist (note: regretted his early

support of USSR & became anti-Stalinist in 1930s).
Acknowledges Lippmann’s diagnosis, but rejects
technocratic solution. Believes that primary problem
is NOT limited cognitive capacities/irrationality,
since this can be ameliorated by education. Prime
problem is the social network problem- the
destruction of organic communities. However, he
disagreed with Lippmann about the notion that
people are simple individuals and now that the pre-
industrial community is gone, individuals are just
condemned to be isolated. Dewey believed that
people were by nature gregarious and that the
prime task wasn’t to get them together, but to
get them together in a way that stimulated their
interest in public issues (Dewey was opposed to
mass culture- he believed it bred apathy) and
helped them overcome cognitive limitations and
exploitation by propagandists. Dewey thought
that, eventually, technology could be part of the
solution.
Note the use of the social sciences by both: Dewey
uses sociology (community vs society distinction),
while Lippmann relies on findings from psychology.
Journalism: for Lippmann, journalists are
transmitters who translate complex policies into
simple terms for the public.
Dewey: journalists are not simply transmitters, but
also catalysts for igniting public debate and
discussion by the accurate provision of relevant
data. Possible partial solution to lack of community
problem, at least in terms of the discussion of public
policy. Idea of civic journalism.
Question: In terms of both education policy & civic
journalism, does a contemporary analogue of
Juvenal’s critique (used by Dewey against
Lippmann’s technocracy solution) resurface? Note
that this problem of who watches those tasked
with helping us solve the data management
problem occurs both with Dewey and Lippmann.
To put this in contemporary terms, there is a
question about why we should trust the
guardians/watchmen who help us sift the data,
because (says Dewey)
A. Psychological vulnerabilities are shared by the
technocrats (formal or informal) and data
providers/journalists.
B. The further away these are from ordinary life, the
more likely it is that they will miss problems relevant
to the ordinary citizen.
Note that the notes/reading by Boorstin identifies
yet another issue in terms of data management: the
creation of “news” as we know in the modern
industrial world (starting with modern newspapers
in the 1800s) and the problems of the
commodification of information.