Abstract:John S. Brubacher introduced a dual philosophy of higher education in his work, "The Philosophy of Higher Education". He posits that higher education encompasses two distinct philosophies: one focused on "higher learning" and the other on "political considerations". For a long time, Chinese scholars have debated whether academia requires a serious philosophy of higher education, often overlooking the pragmatic foundation Brubacher used to reconcile these divergent philosophies. This article aims to elucidate how Dewey's pragmatism reconciles the divergence between these two philosophies. Drawing on Dewey's epistemology, the concept of "higher learning" is reconstructed in four aspects, addressing the divergence in two key areas. First, the continuity inherent in higher learning and its nature as an ongoing process addresses the issue of the effectiveness of knowledge production in universities. Second, Dewey's emphasis on uncertainty and pluralism in epistemology provides a justification for the subjectivity of universities, legitimizing their active role in modern social and political life.
