Propositions, truth values, and technology in John Dewey's theory of inquiry

Abstract

In a 1916 lecture to the Columbia University philosophy club, Dewey discussed the subject of logical objects. Qua logical, he pointed out, logical objects are most properly concerned with inquiry. Apart from esoteric practices, however, inquiry is a public, objective activity which considers publically available evidence. Inference «belongs in the category where plowing, assembling the parts of a machine, digging and smelting ore belong —namely, behavior, which lays hold of and handles and rearranges physical things» (MW.10.91)1 . Inference therefore has nothing to do with what is «metaphysical». Furthermore, anything that might just hitch a ride on this process, such as what are called «psychical», or an «inner mental state», is irrelevant to inquiry