Dewey's Gifford Lectures — arguing that the philosophical quest for certainty (from Plato through Descartes) has systematically distorted our understanding of knowledge, value, and action.
The quest for certainty as a psychological flight from risk: philosophy has sought timeless, certain knowledge as a refuge from the uncertainties of practical life — but this distorts both knowledge and practice. Instrumentalism: knowledge is a tool for intelligent action, not a mirror of a timeless reality. The reconstruction of philosophy: abandoning the quest for certainty in favor of intelligent inquiry.
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