Logic: The Theory of Inquiry

Overview
John Dewey reconceives logic as the systematic study of inquiry, treating reasoning as an active, experimental process embedded in experience. Logic becomes a "theory of inquiry" that explains how humans transform indeterminate, problematic situations into resolved, determinate outcomes through imagination, testing, and action. The account rejects a narrow, formal conception of logic and replaces it with a naturalistic, pragmatic account that links thought directly to the operations of science and everyday problem solving.

The Problematic Situation
A central notion is the "problematic situation": an experienced disturbance or difficulty that creates uncertainty and calls for adjustment. Such situations are not mere puzzles but are characterized by tensions within an environment or between ends and means. Inquiry begins only when some aspect of immediate experience resists habitual coping and becomes a matter for reflection. The felt difficulty focuses attention and initiates a purposive attempt to transform the situation.

The Experimental Method of Inquiry
Inquiry follows an organized sequence: the identification and definition of the difficulty, the suggestion of possible solutions, the development of hypotheses, the reasoning out of consequences, and the testing of these consequences by controlled observation or action. Hypotheses serve as instruments for probing the situation rather than final metaphysical claims. Experiments and directed operations function to isolate variables, secure evidence, and produce consequences that either confirm, revise, or discredit the proposed solution. The emphasis on method shows how logical operations are continuous with empirical procedures.

Naturalistic and Instrumental Logic
Logic, on Dewey's view, is a naturalistic science of the conditions and operations of successful inquiry. Concepts and principles of logic are tools for coping, derived from and accountable to the ways organisms interact with environments. Instrumentalism anchors meaning and validity in the efficacy of ideas as means to ends: thought is tested by its capacity to guide effective action. Dewey rejects the idea of logic as detached, formal rules with autonomous normative force; instead, norms emerge from successful inquiry practices.

Truth, Warrant, and Fallibilism
Truth is reconceived in pragmatic terms as the outcome of inquiry that is warranted by evidence and procedures, not as an absolute correspondence to a static reality. Assertions gain warrant through the tests and intersubjective procedures that have resolved problems for a community of inquirers. Dewey emphasizes fallibilism: even well-warranted conclusions remain open to revision in light of new evidence or better methods. The standard for knowledge becomes the capacity of inquiry to produce reliable, interconnected transformations of problematic situations.

Social and Educational Implications
Inquiry is intrinsically social: communication, shared methods, and institutional practices shape what counts as evidence and what procedures are legitimate. Democratic life and scientific culture are mutually reinforcing insofar as they cultivate habits and conditions for collaborative problem solving. Education, for Dewey, should cultivate the dispositions and skills of reflective inquiry, curiosity, critical testing, and cooperative intelligence, so that individuals can address complex social and practical problems.

Conclusion
Logic: The Theory of Inquiry recasts logic as an account of how experience is intelligently reconstructed through experimental procedures. By connecting psychology, science, and practical deliberation, the theory offers a unified picture of intelligence as adaptive, public, and methodical. The book remains a pivotal statement of pragmatic naturalism, reshaping debates about reason, method, and the role of inquiry in human life.