China and the West

Liang, Shuming. Duwei jiao yu zhe xue zhi gen ben guan nian. [Fundamental ideas in Dewey's philosophy of education : review of 'Democracy and education' by John Dewey] : Lecture delivered at Shandong Rural Reconstruction Research Institute.
杜威教育哲學之根本概念
Liang Shuming was deeply impressed by Dewey's seminal work, in which Dewey had presented a more profound and comprehensive conception of education than anything he had encountered before. Liang's essay is a penetrating analysis of Dewey's ideas from Confucian perspectives. Liang acclaims Dewey's conception of education for encompassing life itself. Liang argues that life is the central concept in Dewey and that his understanding of education derives from his view of life. Since Dewey understands human life to be ineluctably social, he sees education to be possible and necessary only where individual life intersects with social life. As Liang comments, 'where there are no people, there is no education ; and where there is only one person, there is no education'. Liang suggests that, in reading 'Democracy and education', one should start with chapter four, 'Education as growth', which explores the meaning of life from an individual perspective, and then continue with chapters three, two, one, and finally chapter seven. Liang believes that in so reading, one can better comprehend the meaning of individual life in the larger context of social life and thus better grasp Dewey's central contention that democracy is education and education is democracy.
Liang comments that Dewey's philosophy is deep and thorough because he always tries to trace the origin of things, to 'start from the very beginning', as Liang puts it. According to Liang, Dewey rightly understands that the most active part of human life – and the universe at large – is 'renxin', the human heart-and-mind. As he observes, Dewey's writings are filled with profound insights into the nature of human sociality.
He observes that Dewey and Confucius share the same conception of social individuals, for they both understand that humans are inevitably bound together by their very nature. Since human life is naturally social education, to be worthy of the name, must be essentially social and moral. Liang claims that by education Dewey means educating the human-hear-and-mind for a social life. He notes that Dewey end his book by reminding readers what it means to be moral : 'All education which develops power to share effectively in social life is moral' and particularly that 'interest in learning from all the contacts of life is the essential moral interest'. Liang laments the fact that most people fail to understand Dewey's view of morality because they have a narrow and rigid conception of morality as following rules or obeying duty.
Even though Liang praises Dewey and sees many commonalities between Dewey and Confucius, he nonetheless points out what he thinks is lacking in Dewey's philosophy. Although Dewey has a penetrating understanding of the endlessly changing, lively, and dynamic aspects of life, he fails to see another side, that is, the unchanging and the absolute. According to Liang, Dewey makes circular arguments, such as, the end of education is more education, because 'he has not discovered morality, even though everything he said is quite moral'. Liang thinks that Dewey has taught people only how to apply intelligence in dealing with the practicalities of life, but not in reflecting inwardly upon the value of life. Liang's comment seems to reflect a prevailing criticism of Dewey in China during the 1920s and 30s – that he often fails to not the tranquil, spiritual, and aesthetic dimensions of human life.