Dewey's theory of knowledge approached thought genetically, as the product of the interaction between organism and environment, and knowledge as having practical instrumentality in the guidance and control of that interaction. Dewey termed this approach "instrumentalism." Dewey provided a detailed genetic analysis of the process of inquiry is his Studies in Logical Theory, conceptualizing the process in three phases. The first phase is the problematic situation, which Dewey defines as a situation where instinctive or habitual responses of the human organism are inadequate for the continuation of ongoing activity in pursuit of need and desire fulfillment. The second phase comprises of isolation of data or subject matter, which defines the parameters within which the reconstruction of the problematic situation must take place. In the third or reflective phase of the process, cognitive elements of inquiry such as ideas, suppositions, theories etc. are entertained as hypothetical solutions. The final test of...
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