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Food for Thought

Albert C. Barnes: Cantankerous Freethinker

Tim Madigan ponders the mysteries of friendship.

The philosopher John Dewey (1859-1952) was by all accounts a lovable, gentle and self-effacing man, who seldom made enemies and almost always sought a compromise between opposing points of view. And yet, surprisingly, for over 30 years he was a close friend to a man who was by all accounts unlovable, pugnacious and self-aggrandizing, with a penchant for making enemies out of most everyone he met, and a reputation for never compromising even in the face of overwhelming evidence against his position. How could it be that Dewey could remain close to this outrageous individual? Dewey’s other close associates were befuddled by this friendship. Sidney Hook, for instance, wrote in 1952, shortly after Dewey’s death, that “Dewey’s goodness was so genuine, constant, and sustained, even under provocation, that I sometimes found it somewhat oppressive. It was almost a relief that I discovered one shortcoming in him.

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