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Single Idea 21516

[filed under theme 11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 1. Certainty ]

Full Idea

The ultimate ground of the quest for cognitive certainty is the need for security in the results for action.

Gist of Idea

We want certainty in order achieve secure results for action

Source

John Dewey (The Quest for Certainty [1929], p.39), quoted by Erik J. Olsson - Against Coherence 10.5

Book Ref

Olsson,Erik J.: 'Against Coherence' [OUP 2008], p.194

A Reaction

Just what a pragmatist should say. This may be true within an evolutionary account of human nature, but seems unlikely when doing a sudoku. The 'ground' of the quest may not be the same as its 'source'.

The 19 ideas from John Dewey

22866 Mind is never isolated, but only exists in its interactions [Dewey]
22873 Liberalism should improve the system, and not just ameliorate it [Dewey]
22872 Liberals aim to allow individuals to realise their capacities [Dewey]
22870 No belief can be so settled that it is not subject to further inquiry [Dewey]
22869 Knowledge is either the product of competent enquiry, or it is meaningless [Dewey]
22867 The quest for certainty aims for peace, and avoidance of the stress of action [Dewey]
22864 Philosophy is the study and criticsm of cultural beliefs, to achieve new possibilities [Dewey]
22879 'God' is an imaginative unity of ideal values [Dewey]
22877 We should try attaching the intensity of religious devotion to intelligent social action [Dewey]
22880 The things in civilisation we prize are the products of other members of our community [Dewey]
22878 Religions are so shockingly diverse that they have no common element [Dewey]
22871 The good people are those who improve; the bad are those who deteriorate [Dewey]
22876 Democracy is the development of human nature when it shares in the running of communal activities [Dewey]
22865 Habits constitute the self [Dewey]
22874 Individuality is only developed within groups [Dewey]
22868 The value and truth of knowledge are measured by success in activity [Dewey]
22875 Democracy is not just a form of government; it is a mode of shared living [Dewey]
21516 We want certainty in order achieve secure results for action [Dewey]
8478 Dewey argued long before Wittgenstein that there could not seriously be a private language [Dewey, by Orenstein]