HOWWETHINK(JOHNDEWEY)外文电子书籍.doc

HOWWETHINK(JOHNDEWEY)外文电子书籍.doc

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HowWeThink

JoneDewey

PartOne:

TheProblemofTrainingThought

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