“No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.” - Albert Einstein
“No one would deny that we ourselves enter as an agency into whatever is attempted and done by us. This is a truism. But the hardest thing to attend to is that which is closest to ourselves, that which is most constant and familiar. And this closest ‘something’ is, precisely, ourselves, our own habits and ways of doing things...“It is, however, one thing to to teach the need of a return to the individual man as the ultimate agency in whatever mankind and society collectively can accomplish...it is another thing to discover the concrete procedure by which this greatest of all tasks can be executed. And this indispensable thing is exactly what Mr. Alexander has accomplished.” - John Dewey
Albert Einstein is well known to all of us. John Dewey was America’s most famous philosopher. He founded the school of philosophy know as “pragmatism” and he was also very influential in the development of American education during the first half of the twentieth century. Indeed, he is often referred to as the “father of American education.”
But just who was the “Mr. Alexander” that Dewey apparently held in such high esteem? And what did he do to merit Dewey’s praise?
“Mr. Alexander” was F. Matthias Alexander (1869-1855), an Australian by birth, who lived most of his life in London. He was the developer of a method of teaching people how to change harmful habits of posture and movement - habits that prevented them for operating at their full potential. His method continues to be taught today and is commonly called the Alexander Technique.
It might seem strange that a philosopher would be so taken by a process that seems mainly to do with the operation of the physical body. After all we don’t usually attach great philosophical importance to the activities of our chiropractor, massage therapist or physical trainer.
When Dewey and Alexander first met in New York during World War I and had a series of lessons with Alexander, the most immediate results were dramatic improvements in his breathing, eyesight and in the flexibility of his ribcage. Before then, Dewey had always been a very cerebral person and considered his body to be just something needed to keep his mind functioning.
But before long Dewey come to realize that there was a great deal more to the Alexander Technique than improved physical functioning, as important as that was. In his book Freedom to Change - The Development and Science of the Alexander Technique, Frank Pierce Jones relates an interview he had with John Dewey in 1947:
