Dewey, Suzuki, and the Elimination of Dichotomies

JOHN DEWEY AND D. T. SUZUKI, as Van Meter Ames has pointed out on more than one occasion,' are not as alien to one another, philosophically, as might appear at first glance. If one could really get past the unfortunate assumption that Suzuki is the spokesman, par excellence, for Eastern mysticism at its most obscure, paradoxical, and esoteric, whereas Dewey is the spokesman for American common sense, reason, and educational know-how, one might discover that Dewey's naturalism and Suzuki's Zen have much in common. Such a thesis may not be welcomed by those who would turn Zen into a special cult, with or without mescaline as a short-cut to satori; and, in similar manner, such a thesis may not be welcomed by those who feel that one of Dewey's significant virtues as a philosopher was his tough-minded, thoroughly scientific approach to every phase of human life and experience. But if both Dewey and Suzuki are approached in terms of their writings rather than in terms of preformed opinions, important resemblances can certainly be found without, at the same time, attempting to deny equally important differences. In this paper, then, we shall limit ourselves to a very modest task: that of noting the attitude of both Dewey and Suzuki with respect to the conceptual (or intellectual) dichotomy as an instrument of analysis and description. We shall not be concerned, accordingly, with over-all evaluation, nor shall we be concerned with suggesting, for instance, how a synthesis can be (or should be) brought about. It is possible that Dewey and Suzuki can, in the end, be viewed as supplementing (or complementing) one another; but, if so, that is not the present concern. Above all, in this paper we shall not be concerned with pointing out how Dewey and Suzuki differ from one another either in central or in peripheral matters; and we leave open the possibility that the differences may be far more significant than the resemblances. Our only assumption is this (and what a dangerous assumption

Dichotomy · Epistemology · Political science · Philosophy · Pragmatism in Philosophy and Education

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