Resumo

HERMANN, Arturo. John Dewey's theory of democracy and its links with the heterodox approach to economics. Eidos [online]. 2011, n.14, pp. 106-131. ISSN 2011-7477.

John Dewey is one of the most significant figures in pragmatist philosophy, an approach which he systematically applied to the study of economic, social and cultural structure. In our work, we will focus on the main aspects of Dewey's approach to the study of aspects that make up "human nature" and how do they interact with the characteristics of the cultural context. We will illustrate how the concepts elaborated by Dewey can contribute to the heterodox analysis of a host of economic and social issues. Dewey highlights the crucial role of public policies for facilitating the development of volunteer associations in all areas of the social structure. In the analysis of these aspects, Dewey's key contribution lies in removing the concepts of democracy and participation from the limbo of abstraction in which they tended to be confined by previous approaches and connecting them to the evolution of economic and social forms.

Palavras-chave : Dewey; pragmatism; economy; society; culture; heterodox analysis.