THE PUBLIC AND ITS PROBLEMS BY JOHN DEWEY ALAN SWALLOW DENVER COPYRIGHT, 1927, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY Copyright renewed, 1954, by Mrs. John Dewey PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PREFATORY NOTE This volume is the result of lectures delivered during the month of January, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, upon the Larwill Foundation of Kenyon College, Ohio. In acknowledging the many courtesies received, I wish to express also my appreciation of the toleration shown by the authorities of the College to delay in publication. The intervening period has permitted a full revision and expansion of the lectures as originally delivered. This fact will account for an occasional reference to books published in the interval. J. D. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. SEARCH FOR THE PUBLIC 3 Divergence of facts and theoretical interpretations concerning the nature of the state, 3. Practical import of theories, 5. Theories in terms of causal origin, 9. Theory in terms of perceived consequences, 12. Distinction of private and public substituted for that of individual and social, 13. The influence of association, 22. Plurality of associations, 26. Criterion of the public, 27. Function of the state, 28. The state as an experimental problem, 32. Summary, 34. II. DISCOVERY OF THE STATE 37 Public and state, 38. Geographical extent, 39. Multiplicity of states, 43. Spread of consequences, 47. Law is not command, 53. Law and reasonableness, 55. The public and long-established habits of action, 57. Fear of the new, 59. Irreparable consequences, 62. Variation of state-functions according to circumstances of time and place, 65. State and government, 66. State and society, 69. The pluralistic theory, 73. III. THE DEMOCRATIC STATE 75