The transaction concept in Dewey’s philosophy

Abstract

This article addresses the transaction concept in John Dewey’s philosophy. The term itself is not prominent in Dewey’s works. Indeed, it is not theorized substantially until 1949 with the publication of Knowing and the Known which Dewey wrote in cooperation with Arthur F. Bentley. From that account, one is justified to claim that transaction is a key concept in Dewey’s thinking to the degree that one may speak of his philosophy as transactional. Grappling with this concept, I visit Knowing and the Known but also some recent books written by Dewey specialists all of whom emphasize the transaction concept and use it to sharpen Dewey’s philosophy to make it more relevant to our times. Dewey’s philosophy may be thought of as a response and an opposition to Descartes’ dualism that divides the world into two “departments”: the human mind and the world “out there”. Using the notion of transaction, Dewey breaks this distinction so that the human being ceases to be a spectator of the world “out there” and instead becomes a part of and an active participant in the one and only world that is. A new vision of existence emerges.