Essays in Experimental Logic

Dewey, John, 1859-1952Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.3

Word count: 664K words
Chapters: 67

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971, and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Essays in Experimental Logic by John Dewey. Author: Dewey, John, 1859–1952. Language: English. Class: BC: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Logic. Release Date: Sep 19, 2012

Editor's review

This is an important collection of Dewey's essays on experimental logic, presenting his view of logic as an instrument of inquiry: logic is not an abstract form divorced from actual experience but should serve to clarify and resolve problems. The book's critique of traditional conceptions of logic and its discussion of the relation between thought and action have clear value for the history of philosophy and help readers understand the methodological foundations of pragmatist thought. Reading it requires some preparation in philosophy and logic; it is suitable as course reading or for specialized study. Readers are advised to read essay by essay with a questioning mind, first grasping each essay's central thesis and then reviewing the steps of argument, rather than trying to finish it in one sitting. The English original is densely expressed; key terms are best noted and compared.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Philosophy students who need to study pragmatism and logic as a specialized topic
Readers interested in Dewey's thought who have some philosophical background
Researchers in education or methods of thinking concerned with applications of inquiry theory
Readers preparing English-language papers who need to cite classic works of logic

Not a good fit for

Beginners without philosophical background looking for an introductory logic text
General readers expecting accessible examples and light reading
Readers seeking only formal-logical symbol manipulation practice

Reading tips

Read in the order of the essays; before each essay, look at its opening conclusion, then trace the argument
Keep a notebook of core terms and theses for cross-reference
Skip difficulties at first and return to key passages after finishing an essay
Consult other works by Dewey or philosophy textbooks for background

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with zero background in logic?

Not very. The discussions involve traditional logic and philosophical issues, and the arguments are dense, assuming some background in philosophy or logic. Complete beginners should first read an introductory logic textbook and then return to this book.

What is experimental logic mainly about in this book?

Its core claim is to understand logic as an instrument of inquiry, focusing on how thought operates in actual problem situations rather than only on abstract formal rules. Readers should focus on this instrumentalist stance and its critique of traditional views of logic.

What advice is there for reading the English original?

The English is academic and the sentences are long. Read in sections, first grasping the main point of each paragraph and then handling details; build your own glossary of key terms; after finishing an essay, restate its thesis in your own words to check your understanding.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Dewey, John, 1859-1952 Author

John Dewey (1859–1952) was an American philosopher, educational theorist, and psychologist, and a leading representative of pragmatism. The library holds 16 of his works, including Human Nature and Conduct, How We Think, Democracy and Education, Reconstruction in Philosophy, Essays in Experimental Logic, The School and Society, The Child and the Curriculum, and Studies in Logical Theory. These works span social psychology, methods of thinking, philosophy of education, and logic, and are often classified under inspirational growth. Dewey's writing takes problems as its thread, grounding abstract ideas in experience and action; his prose is plain yet closely argued, and his influence on modern educational thought and democratic theory is profound. Public information is limited, so this note introduces only the themes and influence of his works.