How We Think Quotes by John Dewey: Context & Meanings

“The thinker has to decide, to choose; and there is always a risk.”

Choosing among plausible interpretations necessarily involves uncertainty, so sound thinking requires a cautious selection that remains open to confirmation or correction by later events.

Source note: How We Think, Chapter VIII. The sentence concerns choosing the idea or principle relevant to a perplexing situation; the next clause says the prudent thinker selects warily, subject to later confirmation or frustration.

“The judgment when formed is a decision; it closes (or concludes) the question at issue.”

Reflective judgment is not endless suspension: Dewey describes it as the point at which a particular uncertainty is concluded in a way that can also inform later judgments.

Source note: How We Think, Chapter VIII, section on judgment. Project Gutenberg #37423. Dewey is explaining the logical role of judgment in interpreting doubtful situations rather than promising that every decision is final or infallible.