Abstract

My thesis focuses on the dense philosophy of John Dewey. I newly interpret his metaphysics by arguing that the principle of continuity grounds his philosophy, especially his theory of inquiry; I show how the latter supports and is expanded by the case method, and how it leads us to wisdom. ;Dewey's principle is a postulate---not a "First Principle"---based on the conclusions of science, especially evolutionary biology, that assumes we are a product of the continuous development of life on Earth. Dewey's naturalism requires the idea that human experience is emergent from the organic, not the product of a divine will. Reason is thus continuous with nature. Life is a temporal process of interaction that is an integration, best described as an organism/environment system. Individual organisms and environments interact and develop through modifications into qualitatively new organisms and environments. Language and meaning mark a significant new dimension of interaction, as does systematic inquiry. The pattern of inquiry is foreshadowed by organic processes and like the latter is a pattern of interaction. Knowing, for Dewey, is not a passive reception of data but an active engagement with the world; inquiry is directed thought and action that transforms the world. ;This thesis begins with the conditions of our experience , moves through how we meet and transform that experience , to how we might transform that experience in intelligent and caring ways. Can social inquiry be philosophically grounded and practical at the same time? I argue that Dewey's philosophy supports the case method of research, which is one way to make social inquiry both systematic and ameliorative. Used in social science, ecology, law, business, and medicine, the case method allows us to study singular, complex situations where we must act. Philosophy can enhance social inquiry so that we learn how to solve problems in a better way. It can also help us cultivate conditions that produce experience of deep meaning in connection with the world; philosophy can lead to wisdom