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Single Idea 22869

[filed under theme 11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 1. Knowledge ]

Full Idea

Knowledge, as an abstract term, is a name for the product of competent enquiries. Apart from this relation, its meaning is so empty that any content or filling may be arbitrarily poured into it.

Gist of Idea

Knowledge is either the product of competent enquiry, or it is meaningless

Source

John Dewey (The Later Works (17 vols, ed Boydston) [1930], 12:16), quoted by David Hildebrand - Dewey 2 'Knowledge'

Book Ref

Hildebrand,David: 'Dewey' [One World 2008], p.59

A Reaction

What is the criterion of 'competent'? Danger of tautology, if competent enquiry is what produces knowledge.

Related Idea

Idea 22868 The value and truth of knowledge are measured by success in activity [Dewey]

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 to achieve secure results for action [Dewey]
8478 Dewey argued long before Wittgenstein that there could not seriously be a private language [Dewey, by Orenstein]