We start to understand the meaning of John Dewey?s democracy from his writings, as most of the books written about him describes democracy from political view, however the more we read his writings, the more we can understand how democracy can expand to any area.To be able to understand Dewey?s democracy, one needs to begin with his life story. His childhood, applying to graduate degree in philosophy, after marriage and teaching at Michigan University, the quite busy life at Chicago University with its primary, the well known laboratory school. Then lastly comes Columbia University with teaching abroad episodes.During all his life Dewey wrote constantly, despite of his large family, his old age, his visits abroad etc? because he really liked philosophy and thinking. He started writing in philosophy with psychology, with which he became famous. At Michigan he participated in religious activities but when he moved to Chicago he left doing so because secular ideas and the wish of the students were so, for more scientific than theological.About democracy we see his first writing in 1888. For him democracy is a natural term as living in a social life. He replied to political, social life issues around him and in this way he turned philosophy from abstract to concrete for finding answers to problems of man. He saw democracy as a solution to the social life of man. He gave general description of democracy and left the details to be filled by the people who occupy specific posts. Thus democracy has many meaning and requires constant work for the happiness of man to reach democracy. Thus democracy is not an easy task to get it.From education to industrial education to politics, all system requires making people to be aware of their potentials. It is like making people to be more ethical. He was mostly worried about industrial democracy, however the fact what he expressed also is that there should be constant work on ethics or in his term in democracy as the solutions for man?s problems. As he says the cure for democracy is more democracy and when there is democracy, there is ethics.The second section is subdivided according to application of democracy in social life of man. The concept of democracy is a system that starts with human being and expands with his acts. Therefore includes every section of life such as; economy, politics, education? which we tried to find out the connection between these fields and democracy in fact what democracy is like in each of them. It is the way of democracy of living ethically in each of them. As his philosophy is based on unity, there is no separation between them as they all connect to each other.At the end democracy means a free and ethical ideal social living of mankind on the earth in liberty, equality and fraternity. Although the democracy sees that a man is the enemy of the another as they have the different interests, it still hopes of a better society created by democratic education for the common good, as there is not a better alternative. The end of democracy is more democracy and democracy requires constant work?.

Çalışmamızda ilk olarak Dewey?in hayatını tarihsel bir bakış açısından ele aldık. Böylelikle yaşadığı olaylar ve etkilendiği kişiler, düşüncelerinin gelişmesinde çerçevesinde anlaşılabilir. İkinci bölümde ise Dewey?in insan odaklı felsefesinde, demokrasinin nasıl yayıldığını ana başlıklar altında dile getirdik. Dewey psikoloji ve felsefeyi, insana verilen değer ve demokrasi ile birleştirir. Bunu eğitim ve öğretim konusunda yazdıklarıyla ortaya koyar. Ekonomik demokrasinin olmasının önemine dikkat çeker. Bunu diğer alandaki yazıları takip eder.John Dewey?in demokrasisi felsefi bir konu olmasının yanında insanı ilgilendiren her konuyu da kapsar. Bu yüzden ona göre demokrasi bir tanımla sınırlandırılamaz. Fakat bu kavram özgürlük, eşitlik ve kardeşlik kavramları üzerine yayılır. Dewey?de ahlaki düşünme boyutu, demokrasi olarak adlandırılır. Çünkü; demokrasi felsefenin ahlaki boyutundan kaynaklanıp, gelişir. Amerika?nın göçmenlerle oluşan tarihsel yapısı bir kenara bırakılırsa, Dewey?in demokrasi anlayışı, insana ve insan aklına verilen değeri ortaya koyduğu için her toplum için geçerlidir. Dewey?in demokrasisinde her insanın gelişmesi, öğrenmesi ve farklılıkları zenginlik olarak görmesi önemli özelliklerdir. Bunun olabilmesi için demokrasinin özgürlük, eşitlik ve kardeşlik üzerine kurulan anlayışının her toplumsal kuruma yayılması gerekir. Böylece, Dewey?in felsefesi, insanlığın ahlaki olgunlukta özgürlüğüne yönelik çalışmalar bütününü sergiler.