Convert Uncertainty Into Knowledge

inquiry

is a practice through which an uncertain situation is clarified, what is at stake for those affected is determined, and its significance is assessed.

The idea of thought in Foucault might, in short, be best modelled on the idea of inquiry in John Dewey's work, that is, understood as a practice through which an uncertain situation is clarified, what is at stake for those affected is determined, and its significance is assessed.

is a complex stage of empiricism and inductive methodology whereby factual data are wholes and the results of analysis are abstract principles analyzed into theoretically formulated 'parts'.

Marx distinguishes the method of inquiry from the method of exposition. Inquiry (Forschung) is factually realistic, beginning with initially uninterpreted data that are subjected to analysis in stages of complexity that demand insightful abstraction, simplification, and subtlety. The factual data (Tatsache) are the concrete entities, or wholes... and the results of analysis are abstract principles, analyzed into theoretically formulated 'parts,' hypothetically guided by theories that have been based upon, and more or less tested by, previous empirical investigations. Inquiry is a complex stage of empiricism and of inductive and hypothetical analysis.'

is a consecutive ordering of thoughts (rather than a merely sequential ordering) such that each thought determines the next as its proper outcome while also leaning back on its predecessors, growing out of one another and supporting one another, each phase acting as a step from something to something, each term leaving a deposit which is utilized in the next term.

Reflective thought is consecutive, not merely a sequence . . . Now reflective thought is like this random coursing of things through the mind in that it consist of a succession of things thought of ... but it is unlike, in that the mere chance occurrence of any chance 'something or other' in an irregular sequence does not suffice. Reflection involves not simply a sequence of ideas, but a consequence a consecutive ordering in such a way that each determines the next as its proper outcome, while each in turn leans back on its predecessors. The successive portions of the reflective thought grow out of one another and support one another... they do not come and go in a medley. Each phase is a step from something to something technically speaking, it is a term of thought. Each term leaves a deposit which is utilized in the next term. The stream or flow becomes a train, chain, or thread.

is active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends [that] constitutes reflective thought.

For Dewey, inquiry is 'active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends [that] constitutes reflective thought' (Dewey 1933, pp. 3-16).

is always a seeking. The journey of seeking is guided beforehand by what is sought.

Every inquiry is seeking and the journey of seeking is guided beforehand by what is sought. [heidegger BT 24 25]

is a mode of questioning where a note of invention is present, as distinct from faithful record of observation.

We ask the man telling a story if he saw a certain incident happen, and his reply may be, ' No, I only thought of it.' A note of invention, as distinct from faithful record of observation, is present. Most important in this class are successions of imaginative incidents and episodes which, having a certain coherence, hanging together on a continuous thread, lie between kaleidoscopic flights of fancy and considerations deliberately employed to establish a conclusion.

is applicable to all kind of everyday thinking, anything as mundane as turning over in the mind the various options available to one to get to a meeting one is running late to.

And it applies to all kinds of everyday thinking. Take an example that Dewey uses: of suddenly remembering an appointment previously made with little time to get to the agreed-upon meeting place. So the questions: What is to be done' Do you walk rapidly or take the elevated train or hop the subway' This simple, common problem can exemplify reflective inquiry.

1s 2unction is to transform a situation in which there is experienced obscurity, doubt, conflict, disturbance of some sort, into a situation that is clear, coherent, settled, harmonious.

The function of reflective thought, for Dewey, is to transform a situation 'in which there is experienced obscurity, doubt, conflict, disturbance of some sort, into a situation that is clear, coherent, settled, harmonious' (Dewey 1933, p. 100).

inquiry, n.All

inquiry