A brilliant analysis of the relationship between an open society like that of the United States and the development of a rich and pervasive cultural climate.
From the beginnings of political science, many thinkers, T. S. Eliot, Alexis de Tocqueville, Jacques Barzun, for example, have expressed misgivings on the subject of the relationship of culture to freedom, and many have despairingly suggested that a homogeneous and subservient population is essential for the development of cultural expression and mutual comprehension in a society.
In Freedom and Culture, John Dewey, always a fierce defender of democracy, presents cogently and carefully the case for a truly democratic culture of a high order, and one which would act as a unifying force in American society. This is; therefore, one of Dewey's most important works, and one which, even more than most of his books, answers the most pressing contemporary questions.