more on this theme | more from this thinker
Full Idea
The quest for certainty is a quest for a peace which is assured, an object which is unqualified by risk and the shadow of fear which action costs.
Gist of Idea
The quest for certainty aims for peace, and avoidance of the stress of action
Source
John Dewey (The Later Works (17 vols, ed Boydston) [1930], 4:7), quoted by David Hildebrand - Dewey 2 'Intro'
Book Ref
Hildebrand,David: 'Dewey' [One World 2008], p.40
A Reaction
This is a characteristic pragmatist account. I think Dewey and Peirce offer us the correct attitude to certainty. It is just not available to us, and can only be a delusion. That doesn't mean we don't know anything, however!
| 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] |
| 22869 | Knowledge is either the product of competent enquiry, or it is meaningless [Dewey] |
| 22870 | No belief can be so settled that it is not subject to further inquiry [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] |