Abstract

Dewey’s approach to the study of human nature is consistent with the standpoint of scientific psychology. Man according to him is the product of the process of evolution. His nature has changeable and unchangeable elements. Dewey’s approach to the study of human nature is characterized by a scientific spirit. He rejects the dualistic view, faculty view, and the tabula rasa view on human nature. Deweyan presentation on human nature is in a way was one of his most cherished dreams. In Freedom and Culture, he shares with the readers the dream he has. His dream is to have a theory of human nature and he succeeds in that attempt with the publication of Human Nature and Conduct. However, when we think in line with the Eastern thinkers who were also influenced by evolutionary thinking, people like Sri Aurobindo, we do not see in Dewey man’s ascent to the divine. This is most likely due to the pragmatist ideology to which he holds on. It is worth recalling the comment of Jacques Maritain in this regard: contemplation and self-perfection, in which human life aspires to flower forth, escape the purview of the pragmatic mind.