"We only think when we are confronted with problems"
About this Quote
Dewey treats thinking as a response to trouble, not a constant background hum. When habits carry us through familiar situations, action is smooth and largely unreflective. A hitch appears, an outcome surprises us, the path forward becomes uncertain, and attention sharpens. Reflection begins as a felt difficulty and proceeds as inquiry: we define the problem, consider possible solutions, test them in action, and settle on a course that restores continuity. Thinking is thus practical and experimental, a tool for transforming an indeterminate situation into a determinate one.
This view sits at the heart of Deweys pragmatism and his method of inquiry. In How We Think he describes reflective thought as starting with doubt and moving through hypothesis and verification. In Logic: The Theory of Inquiry he calls the starting point an indeterminate situation, emphasizing that perplexity is not just a mood but a structural mismatch between aims and conditions. A scientist confronting an unexpected result, a child trying to make a tower that will not topple, a citizen weighing clashing values in a public debate all enter the same pattern of intelligent action: they frame the problem, imagine consequences, experiment, and revise.
The word only is not a denial of imagination or play, but a distinction between mere reverie and disciplined reflection. Daydreams drift; thinking, for Dewey, has a purpose imposed by resistance. Even artistic creation, on this view, arises from problems set by materials, constraints, and intended effects; the painter thinks through the recalcitrance of paint, light, and form. The educational implication is decisive: real learning happens when students face meaningful problems and learn to inquire, not when they recite settled answers. The democratic implication is equally strong: a public capable of thinking well together needs habits that welcome disagreement as the beginning of intelligence. By locating thought in trouble and experiment, Dewey ties mind to the living currents of experience and growth.
This view sits at the heart of Deweys pragmatism and his method of inquiry. In How We Think he describes reflective thought as starting with doubt and moving through hypothesis and verification. In Logic: The Theory of Inquiry he calls the starting point an indeterminate situation, emphasizing that perplexity is not just a mood but a structural mismatch between aims and conditions. A scientist confronting an unexpected result, a child trying to make a tower that will not topple, a citizen weighing clashing values in a public debate all enter the same pattern of intelligent action: they frame the problem, imagine consequences, experiment, and revise.
The word only is not a denial of imagination or play, but a distinction between mere reverie and disciplined reflection. Daydreams drift; thinking, for Dewey, has a purpose imposed by resistance. Even artistic creation, on this view, arises from problems set by materials, constraints, and intended effects; the painter thinks through the recalcitrance of paint, light, and form. The educational implication is decisive: real learning happens when students face meaningful problems and learn to inquire, not when they recite settled answers. The democratic implication is equally strong: a public capable of thinking well together needs habits that welcome disagreement as the beginning of intelligence. By locating thought in trouble and experiment, Dewey ties mind to the living currents of experience and growth.
Quote Details
| Topic | Reason & Logic |
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