HOWWETHINK(JOHNDEWEY)外文电子书籍Word格式文档下载.doc

HOWWETHINK(JOHNDEWEY)外文电子书籍Word格式文档下载.doc

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Chapter1:

WhatisThought

?

I.VariedSensesoftheTerm

Foursensesofthought,fromthewidertothelimited

Nowordsareofteneronourlipsthanthinkingandthought.Soprofuseandvaried,indeed,isouruseofthesewordsthatitisnoteasytodefinejustwhatwemeanbythem.Theaimofthischapteristofindasingleconsistentmeaning.Assistancemaybehadbyconsideringsometypicalwaysinwhichthetermsareemployed.Inthefirstplacethoughtisusedbroadly,nottosayloosely.Everythingthatcomestomind,that"

goesthroughourheads,"

iscalledathought.Tothinkofathingisjusttobeconsciousofitinanywaywhatsoever.Second,thetermisrestrictedbyexcludingwhateverisdirectlypresented;

wethink（orthinkof）onlysuchthingsaswedonotdirectlysee,hear,smell,ortaste.Then,third,themeaningisfurtherlimitedtobeliefsthatrestuponsomekindofevidenceortestimony.Ofthisthirdtype,twokinds―or,rather,twodegrees―mustbediscriminated.Insomecases,abeliefisacceptedwithslightoralmostnoattempttostatethegroundsthatsupportit.Inothercases,thegroundorbasisforabeliefisdeliberatelysoughtandits

（2）adequacytosupportthebeliefexamined.Thisprocessiscalledreflectivethought;

italoneistrulyeducativeinvalue,anditforms,accordingly,theprincipalsubjectofthisvolume.Weshallnowbrieflydescribeeachofthefoursenses.

Chanceandidlethinking

1.Initsloosestsense,thinkingsignifieseverythingthat,aswesay,is"

inourheads"

orthat"

goesthroughourminds."

Hewhooffers"

apennyforyourthoughts"

doesnotexpecttodriveanygreatbargain.Incallingtheobjectsofhisdemandthoughts,hedoesnotintendtoascribetothemdignity,consecutiveness,ortruth.Anyidlefancy,trivialrecollection,orflittingimpressionwillsatisfyhisdemand.Daydreaming,buildingofcastlesintheair,thatloosefluxofcasualanddisconnectedmaterialthatfloatsthroughourmindsinrelaxedmomentsare,inthisrandomsense,thinking.Moreofourwakinglifethanweshouldcaretoadmit,eventoourselves,islikelytobewhiledawayinthisinconsequentialtriflingwithidlefancyandunsubstantialhope.

Reflectivethoughtisconsecutive,notmerelyasequence

Inthissense,sillyfolkanddullardsthink.Thestoryistoldofamaninslightreputeforintelligence,who,desiringtobechosenselectmaninhisNewEnglandtown,addressedaknotofneighborsinthiswise:

"

Ihearyoudon'

tbelieveIknowenoughtoholdoffice.IwishyoutounderstandthatIamthinkingaboutsomethingorothermostofthetime."

Nowreflectivethoughtislikethisrandomcoursingofthingsthroughthemindinthatitconsistsofasuccessionofthingsthoughtof;

butitisunlike,inthatthemerechanceoccurrenceofanychance"

somethingorother"

inanirregularsequencedoesnotsuffice.Reflectioninvolvesnotsimplyasequenceofideas,butaconsequence―aconsecutiveorderinginsuchawaythat

（3）eachdeterminesthenextasitsproperoutcome,whileeachinturnleansbackonitspredecessors.Thesuccessiveportionsofthereflectivethoughtgrowoutofoneanotherandsupportoneanother;

theydonotcomeandgoinamedley.Eachphaseisastepfromsomethingtosomething―technicallyspeaking,itisatermofthought.Eachtermleavesadepositwhichisutilizedinthenextterm.Thestreamorflowbecomesatrain,chain,orthread.

Therestrictionofthinkingtowhatgoesbeyonddirectobservation

Reflectivethoughtaims,however,atbelief

II.Evenwhenthinkingisusedinabroadsense,itisusuallyrestrictedtomattersnotdirectlyperceived:

towhatwedonotsee,smell,hear,ortouch.Weaskthemantellingastoryifhesawacertainincidenthappen,andhisreplymaybe,"

No,Ionlythoughtofit."

Anoteofinvention,asdistinctfromfaithfulrecordofobservation,ispresent.Mostimportantinthisclassaresuccessionsofimaginativeincidentsandepisodeswhich,havingacertaincoherence,hangingtogetheronacontinuousthread,liebetweenkaleidoscopicflightsoffancyandconsiderationsdeliberatelyemployedtoestablishaconclusion.Theimaginativestoriespouredforthbychildrenpossessalldegreesofinternalcongruity;

somearedisjointed,somearearticulated.Whenconnected,theysimulatereflectivethought;

indeed,theyusuallyoccurinmindsoflogicalcapacity.Theseimaginativeenterprisesoftenprecedethinkingoftheclose-knittypeandpreparethewayforit.Buttheydonotaimatknowledge,atbeliefaboutfactsorintruths;

andtherebytheyaremarkedofffromreflectivethoughtevenwhentheymostresembleit.Thosewhoexpresssuchthoughtsdonotexpectcredence,butrathercreditforawell-constructedplotorawell-arrangedclimax.Theyproducegoodstories,not―unlessbyc