John Dewey, "Democracy in Education," John Dewey, The Middle Works, 1899–1924, ed. Jo Ann Boydston, vol. 3, p. 229 (1977). First published in The Elementary School Teacher, December 1903
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Modern life means democracy, democracy means freeing intelligence for independent effectiveness—the emancipation of mind as an individual organ to do its own work. We naturally associate democracy, to be sure, with freedom of action, but freedom of action without freed capacity of thought behind it is only chaos.
— John Dewey on Freedom
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Modern life means democracy, democracy means freeing intelligence for independent effectiveness—the emancipation of mind as an individual organ to do its own work. We naturally associate democracy, to be sure, with freedom of action, but freedom of action without freed capacity of thought behind it is only chaos." in the context of "John Dewey, "Democracy in Education," John Dewey, The Middle Works, 1899–1924, ed. Jo Ann Boydston, vol. 3, p. 229 (1977). First published in The Elementary School Teacher, December 1903" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Freedom" (Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989))
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About John Dewey
John Dewey (October 20 1859 – June 1 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer. A major figure in the Pragmatist school of American philosophy, his work has been influential in a wide range of fields.
About John Dewey
John Dewey (October 20 1859 – June 1 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer. A major figure in the Pragmatist school of American philosophy, his work has been influential in a wide range of fields.
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