HOW WE THINK
ttve distinct
steps in
reflection
i. The occur
rence of a
difficulty
(a) in the
lack of
adaptation
of means
to end
shall deal, in a later chapter, with the evolution of
abstract thinking out of that which is relatively practical
and direct ;
here we are concerned only with the com
mon elements found in all the types.
Upon examination, each instance reveals, more or less
clearly, five logically distinct steps :
(z) a felt difficulty ;
(zY) its location and definition ; (iii) suggestion of pos
sible solution ; (iv) development by reasoning of the
bearings of the suggestion ; (v) further observation and
experiment leading to its acceptance or rejection; that
is, the conclusion of belief or disbelief.
i. The first and second steps frequently fuse into
one. The difficulty may be felt with sufficient definiteness
as to set the mind at once speculating upon its
probable solution, or an undefined uneasiness and shock
may come first, leading only later to definite attempt to
find out what is the matter. Whether the two steps
are distinct or blended, there is the factor emphasized
in our original account of reflection viz. the perplexity
W QJ- problem. In the first of the three cases cited, the
difficulty resides in the conflict between conditions at
hand and a desired and intended result, between an end
and the means for reaching it. The purpose of keep
ing an engagement at a certain time, and the existing
hour taken in connection with the location, are not con
gruous. The object of thinking is to introduce congruity
between the two. The given conditions cannot
themselves be altered ; time will not go backward nor
will the distance between i6th Street and I24th Street
shorten itself. The problem is the discovery of inter
vening terms which when inserted between the remoter
end and the given means will harmonize them with each
other.
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ANALYSIS OF A COMPLETE ACT OF THOUGHT 73
In the second case, the difficulty experienced is the ()
incompatibility of a suggested and (temporarily) accepted
belief that the pole is a flagpole, with certain an object
other facts. Suppose we symbolize the qualities that
suggest flagpole by the letters a, b, c\ those that op
pose this suggestion by the letters /, q, r. There is, of
course, nothing inconsistent in the qualities themselves ;
but in pulling the mind to different and incongruous
conclusions they conflict hence the problem. Here
the object is the discovery of some object ((7), of which
a, b, c, and/, q, r, may all be appropriate traits just
as, in our first case, it is to discover a course of action
which will combine existing conditions and a remoter re
sult in a single whole. The method of solution is also
the same :
discovery of intermediate qualities (the posi
tion of the pilot house, of the pole, the need of an index
to the boat's direction) symbolized by d, g, /, <?, which
bind together otherwise incompatible traits.
In the third case, an observer trained to the idea of fc) in exnatural
laws or uniformities finds something odd or exceptional
in the behavior of the bubbles. The problem event
is to reduce the apparent anomalies to instances of wellestablished
laws. Here the method of solution is also
to seek for intermediary terms which will connect, by
regular linkage, the seemingly extraordinary movements
of the bubbles with the conditions known to follow from
processes supposed to be operative.
2. As already noted, the first two steps, the feeling 2. Definition
of a discrepancy, or difficulty, and the acts of observation
that serve to define the character of the difficulty
may, in a given instance, telescope together. In cases
of striking novelty or unusual perplexity, the difficulty,
however, is likely to present itself at first as a shock, as
Dewey, J. How We Think. Boston: Heath, 1910.
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74 HOW WE THINK
emotional disturbance, as a more or less vague feeling
of the unexpected, of something queer, strange, funny,
or disconcerting. In such instances, there are neces
sary observations deliberately calculated to bring to
light just what is the trouble, or to make clear the spe
cific character of the problem. In large measure, the
existence or non-existence of this step makes the differ
ence between reflection proper, or safeguarded critical
inference and uncontrolled thinking. Where sufficient
pains to locate the difficulty are not taken, suggestions for
its resolution must be more or less random. Imagine a
doctor called in to prescribe for a patient. The patient
tells him some things that are wrong ; his experienced
eye, at a glance, takes in other signs of a certain dis
ease. But if he permits the suggestion of this special
disease to take possession prematurely of his mind, to
become an accepted conclusion, his scientific thinking is
by that much cut short. A large part of his technique,
as a skilled practitioner, is to prevent the acceptance of
the first suggestions that arise ; even, indeed, to postpone
the occurrence of any very definite suggestion till the
trouble the nature of the problem has been thor
oughly explored. In the case of a physician this pro
ceeding is known as diagnosis, but a similar inspection
is required in every novel and complicated situation to
prevent rushing to a conclusion. The essence of criti
cal thinking is suspended judgment; and the essence
of this suspense is inquiry to determine the nature of
the problem before proceeding to attempts at its solu
tion. This, more than any other thing, transforms mere
inference into tested inference, suggested conclusions
into proof.
3. The third factor is suggestion. The situation in
Dewey, J. How We Think. Boston: Heath, 1910.
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ANALYSIS OF A COMPLETE ACT OF THOUGHT 75
which the perplexity occurs calls up something not 3* Occurpresent
to the senses : the present location, the thought suggested
of subway or elevated train; the stick before the eyes,
explanation
r r
r POSSlble
the idea of a flagpole, an ornament, an apparatus tor solution
wireless telegraphy ;
the soap bubbles, the law of expan
sion of bodies through heat and of their contraction
through cold, (a) Suggestion is the very heart of in
ference ; it involves going from what is present to some
thing absent Hence, it is more or less speculative,
adventurous. Since inference goes beyond what is ac
tually present, it involves a leap, a jump, the propriety
of which cannot be absolutely warranted in advance, no
matter what precautions be taken. Its control is in
direct, on the one hand, involving the formation of habits
of mind which are at once enterprising and cautious ;
and on the other hand, involving the selection and
arrangement of the particular facts upon perception of
which suggestion issues. () The suggested conclusion
so far as it is not accepted but only tentatively enter
tained constitutes an idea. Synonyms for this are supposition>
conjecture^ guess, hypothesis, and (in elaborate
cases) theory. Since suspended belief, or the postpone
ment of a final conclusion pending further evidence,
depends partly upon the presence of rival conjectures
as to the best course to pursue or the probable explana
tion to favor, cultivation of a variety of alternative
suggestions is an important factor in good thinking.
4. The process of developing the bearings or, as 4.
they are more technically termed, the implications of
any idea with respect to any problem, is termed reason- of an idea
ing.
1
As an idea is inferred from given facts, so reasoning
1 This term is sometimes extended to denote the entire reflective pro
cess just as inference (which in the sense of test is best reserved for
Dewey, J. How We Think. Boston: Heath, 1910.
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?6 HOW WJE THINK
sets out from an Idea. The idea of elevated road Is de
veloped into the idea of difficulty of locating station, length
of time occupied on the journey, distance of station at
the other end from place to be reached. In the second
case, the implication of a flagpole is seen to be a verti
cal position ; of a wireless apparatus, location on a high
part of the ship and, moreover, absence from every
casual tugboat ; while the idea of index to direction in
which the boat moves, when developed, is found to cover
all the details of the case.
Reasoning has the same effect upon a suggested
solution as more intimate and extensive observation has
upon the original problem. Acceptance of the sugges
tion in its first form is prevented by looking into it more
thoroughly. Conjectures that seem plausible at first
sight are often found unfit or even absurd when their
full consequences are traced out. Even when reason
ing out the bearings of a supposition does not lead to re
jection, it develops the idea into a form in which it is
more apposite to the problem. Only when, for example,
the conjecture that a pole was an index-pole had been
thought out into its bearings could its particular appli
cability to the case in hand be judged. Suggestions
at first seemingly remote and wild are frequently so
transformed by being elaborated into what follows from
them as to become apt and fruitful. The development
of an idea through reasoning helps at least to supply
the intervening or intermediate terms that link together
into a consistent whole apparently discrepant extremes
(ante, p. 72).
the third step) is sometimes used in the same broad sense. But reasoning
(or ratiocination) seems to be peculiarly adapted to express what the
older writers called the **
notional **
or **
dialectic "
process of developing
the meaning of a given idea.
Dewey, J. How We Think. Boston: Heath, 1910.
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ANALYSIS OF A COMPLETE ACT OF THOUGHT 77
5. The concluding and conclusive step is some kind 5. Corrobof
experimental corroboration, or verification, of the ^
a
^^d
conjectural idea. Reasoning shows that if the idea be formation of
adopted, certain consequences follow. So far the conelusion
is hypothetical or conditional. If we look and
find present all the conditions demanded by the theory,
and if we find the characteristic traits called for by
rival alternatives to be lacking, the tendency to believe,
to accept, is almost irresistible. Sometimes direct
observation furnishes corroboration, as in the case of
the pole on the boat. In other cases, as in that of the
bubbles, experiment is required ; that is, conditions are
deliberately arranged in accord with the requirements of
an idea or hypothesis to see if the results theoretically
indicated by the idea actually occur. If it is found that
the experimental results agree with the theoretical,
or rationally deduced, results, and if there is reason to
believe that only the conditions in question would yield
such results, the confirmation is so strong as to induce a
conclusion at least until contrary facts shall indicate
the advisability of its revision.
Observation exists at the beginning and again at the Thinking
1
end of the process : at the beginning, to determine more
definitely and precisely the nature of the difficulty to be observations
dealt with ;
at the end, to test the value of some hypo- ginning and
thetically entertained conclusion. Between those two at the end
termini of observation, we find the more distinctively
mental aspects of the entire thought-cycle :
(f) inference,
the suggestion of an explanation or solution; and
(if) reasoning, the development of the bearings and im
plications of the suggestion. Reasoning requires some
experimental observation to confirm it, while experi
ment can be economically and fruitfully conducted only
Dewey, J. How We Think. Boston: Heath, 1910.
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HOW WK THINK
The trained
mind one
that judges
the extent
of each step
advisable in
a given
situation
on the basis of an idea that has been tentatively devel
oped by reasoning.
The disciplined, or logically trained, mind the aim of
the educative process is the mind able to judge how
far each of these steps needs to be carried in any par
ticular situation. No cast-iron rules can be laid down.
Each case has to be dealt with as it arises, on the basis
of its importance and of the context in which it occurs.
To take too much pains in one case is as foolish as
illogical as to take too little in another. At one
extreme, almost any conclusion that insures prompt
and unified action may be better than any long delayed
conclusion ; while at the other, decision may have to
be postponed for a long period perhaps for a life
time. The trained mind is the one that best grasps the
degree of observation, forming of ideas, reasoning, and
experimental testing required in any special case, and that
profits the most, in future thinking, by mistakes made in
the past. What is important is that the mind should
be sensitive to problems and skilled in methods of attack
and solution.
Dewey, J. How We Think. Boston: Heath, 1910.
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