Author: Jerome A. Popp<br />File Type: pdf<br />John Dewey was the first philosopher to recognize that Darwins thesis about natural selection not only required us to change how we think about ourselves and the life forms around us, but also required a markedly different approach to philosophy. Evolutions First Philosopher shows how Deweys arguments arose from his recognition of the continuity of natural selection and mindedness, from which he developed his concept of growth. Growth, for Dewey, has no end beyond itself and forms the basis of a naturalized theory of ethics. While other philosophers gave some attention to evolutionary theory, it was Dewey alone who saw that Darwinism provides the basis for a naturalized theory of meaning. This, in turn, portends a new account of knowledge, ethics, and democracy. To clarify evolutions conception of natural selection, Jerome A. Popp looks at brain science and examines the relationship between the genome and experience in terms of the contemporary concepts of preparedness and plasticity. This research shows how comprehensive and penetrating Deweys thought was in terms of further consequences for the philosophical method entailed by Darwins thesis. Deweys foresight is further legitimated when Popp places his work within the context of the current thought of Daniel Dennett. **