In this classic treatise, educational reformist and psychologist John Dewey argues why education is crucial to a free and democratic society.

What are the key requirements for democracy? Some would say it's freedom of the press and the right to vote for elected representatives.

What good is the right to vote, if people don't know anything about what they're voting on?

A father of modern educational theory, John Dewey was a leading American scholar of the 20th century.

Best known as an educational reformer, Dewey was also an influential philosopher and psychologist, writing on topics from logic to aesthetics.

In his 1916 treatise, Dewey examines the nature of education, rooted in our very existence as a social species.

For Dewey, not only is education the cornerstone of democracy, but human society itself.