Human Nature and Conduct Quotes by John Dewey: Context & Meanings

Human Nature and Conduct (1922), Part Four, Section III, “What is Freedom?”, printed page 304, Project Gutenberg #41386. Dewey states “Intelligence is the key to freedom in act” while arguing that effective action depends on consulting conditions and forming plans that enlist their cooperation; the following page stresses study, foresight and adaptation. This is historical philosophical / social-psychological argument rather than current neuroscientific or experimentally settled behavioral evidence.

Human Nature and Conduct (1922), Part One, Section II, “Habits and Will,” printed page 38, Project Gutenberg #41386. Dewey says character would not exist if habits operated in insulated compartments; “Character is the interpenetration of habits” summarizes his account of habits continuously modifying and reinforcing one another. This is part of Dewey’s historical philosophical / early social-psychological framework, not a modern clinical definition of personality.