[Part 3]There is a quiet anecdote often told in classrooms that value critical thinking, in which three academics walk into a public debate not carrying conclusions, but questions. Dr Roy Suryo, Dr Rismon Sianipar, and Dr Tifauzia Tyassuma, in this story, do not present themselves as judges of truth, but as reminders that authority does not cancel inquiry. Their insistence on asking about the authenticity of a presidential diploma is less about the document itself and more about the discipline of doubt.From the perspective of critical thinking, their actions resemble a Deweyan moment of reflective inquiry, where a claim that appears settled is deliberately paused and examined. Instead of accepting reassurance simply because it comes from power or popularity, they model the uncomfortable habit of asking how we know what we claim to know. In this sense, their questioning functions like a stress test for public reasoning rather than a verdict on personal legitimacy.The anecdote ends not with an answer, but with a lesson. A democracy that panics at questions may possess stability, but it lacks intellectual confidence. By contrast, a society that allows credentials, narratives, and symbols to be questioned calmly demonstrates trust in reason rather than fear of doubt. Whether one agrees or disagrees with their concerns, the very act of inquiry affirms a basic principle of critical thinking: that truth is strengthened, not weakened, when it is examined.In How We Think (1910), published by D. C. Heath & Co., John Dewey explains that thinking is not a random or spontaneous mental activity, but a disciplined and purposeful process that arises from experience. For Dewey, genuine thinking begins when a person encounters a problem, a doubt, or a situation that disrupts habitual action. This state of uncertainty creates what he calls a felt difficulty, which stimulates reflection rather than impulsive response.Dewey argues that reflective thinking proceeds through a sequence of interconnected phases. It starts with the recognition of a problem, followed by the careful observation of relevant conditions. From this observation, the mind suggests possible explanations or hypotheses, which are not accepted immediately as truths but treated as tentative ideas. These ideas are then examined through reasoning, by considering their implications and consistency with known facts. Finally, thinking reaches its fulfilment when the hypothesis is tested through action or further experience, allowing the thinker to confirm, revise, or reject it.According to Dewey, this process shows that thinking is essentially practical and experimental in character. Ideas are tools for understanding and guiding action, not mere abstract entities detached from life. He emphasises that beliefs should not be held simply because they are traditional, authoritative, or emotionally satisfying, but because they have been examined and supported by evidence and consequences. In this sense, Dewey sees thinking as an active inquiry that connects knowledge with responsible judgment.Dewey also highlights the educational significance of this view of thinking. He maintains that education should cultivate reflective habits of mind, encouraging learners to question, investigate, and reason, rather than memorise conclusions handed down by others. For Dewey, to think well is to suspend premature certainty, to tolerate doubt, and to commit oneself to inquiry guided by evidence. Thus, thinking becomes not only an intellectual skill but also a moral discipline that shapes how individuals engage with the world.In John Dewey’s view, particularly as articulated in How We Think (1910), the distinction between thinking and thought lies in the difference between an active process and a finished mental product. Thought refers to the ideas, beliefs, images, or conclusions that occupy the mind at a given moment. These may arise from memory, imagination, habit, tradition, or authority, and they can exist in the mind without having been critically examined.Thinking, by contrast, is the deliberate and reflective activity through which such thoughts are generated, tested, and organised. Dewey defines thinking as an active inquiry that begins with doubt or perplexity and proceeds through investigation, reasoning, and verification. While thought can be passive and even accidental, thinking requires effort, discipline, and a conscious suspension of immediate judgment.Dewey emphasises that the mere presence of thoughts does not guarantee intelligence or understanding. A person may possess many thoughts, opinions, or beliefs, yet fail to engage in genuine thinking if these mental contents are accepted uncritically. For Dewey, the danger lies in confusing having thoughts with thinking well, because unexamined thoughts may guide action without accountability to evidence or consequences.Ultimately, Dewey argues that education should be more concerned with cultivating the habit of thinking than with transmitting ready-made thoughts. Thoughts are always provisional and subject to revision, whereas thinking is the method that allows individuals to evaluate, correct, and improve those thoughts over time. Thus, for Dewey, thinking is a living process of inquiry, while thought is a temporary outcome of that process.John Dewey regards reflective thinking as the highest and most valuable form of thinking, because it transforms ordinary experience into intelligent and responsible action. In How We Think (1910), he defines reflective thinking as the active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in light of the grounds that support it and the consequences to which it leads. For Dewey, reflection is not daydreaming or mere mental activity, but a disciplined inquiry guided by evidence and reason.Dewey explains that reflective thinking begins with a state of doubt, perplexity, or uncertainty, which interrupts habitual responses and compels the mind to inquire. Instead of reacting impulsively, the reflective thinker pauses, examines the situation, and seeks relevant facts. This process involves forming hypotheses, reasoning through their implications, and testing them through experience. Reflection, therefore, is a method of resolving uncertainty by connecting ideas with their practical outcomes.According to Dewey, reflective thinking is essential for intellectual growth and moral responsibility. He argues that without reflection, beliefs are accepted blindly, often based on authority, tradition, or emotion, and such beliefs may guide action without accountability. Reflective thinking introduces control, self-criticism, and openness to revision, enabling individuals to learn from experience rather than merely repeat a habit.Dewey also emphasises the educational and democratic importance of reflective thinking. He maintains that education should prioritise the cultivation of reflective habits, because a democratic society depends on citizens who can think independently, evaluate evidence, and revise their judgments when confronted with new facts. For Dewey, reflective thinking is not only a cognitive skill but also a moral attitude, characterised by humility, patience, and a commitment to truth-seeking. Through reflective thinking, individuals become capable of directing their lives intelligently and participating responsibly in social life.According to John Dewey, the primary problem in training thought lies in the tendency to treat thoughts as fixed possessions rather than as provisional outcomes of inquiry. Dewey observes that many individuals assume that having thoughts, opinions, or beliefs already constitutes good thinking, whereas in reality, these thoughts may be inherited, habitual, or accepted from authority without reflection. This confusion between possessing thoughts and engaging in thinking makes the cultivation of sound thought particularly difficult.Another major problem identified by Dewey is the dominance of habit and routine in mental life. Human beings naturally rely on habitual ways of thinking because they are comfortable and efficient. However, such habits often resist questioning and discourage the examination of underlying assumptions. As a result, thoughts become rigid and are repeated mechanically, instead of being tested and refined through reflective inquiry.Dewey also points to emotional influence as a serious obstacle in training thought. He argues that desires, fears, and personal interests frequently shape thoughts before evidence is considered. When thought is guided by what is pleasing or reassuring rather than by inquiry, beliefs harden into prejudices. In this condition, thought serves to justify what one already wants to believe, rather than to discover what is reasonable or true.Furthermore, Dewey identifies the misuse of authority as a persistent problem. Thoughts are often accepted because they come from respected figures, traditions, or institutions, rather than because they have been examined critically. Dewey does not reject authority outright, but he insists that uncritical submission to authority prevents thought from developing independence and responsibility.Dewey argues that education itself often contributes to the problem by focusing on the transmission of ready-made thoughts instead of the cultivation of reflective thinking. When learners are rewarded for memorising conclusions rather than for understanding how those conclusions were reached, thought becomes inert and disconnected from experience. In Dewey’s view, the central difficulty in training thought is overcoming passivity and fostering the habit of inquiry that keeps thoughts open to examination, revision, and growth.John Dewey develops his ideas on logical consideration by explaining that logic is not a set of abstract rules imposed on thinking from outside, but a reflective reconstruction of the actual process by which human beings inquire and reach judgments. For Dewey, logic grows out of experience and serves the practical function of guiding thinking toward warranted conclusions.Dewey argues that logical thinking begins with a problematic situation rather than with ready-made premises. A situation becomes logical only when it is recognised as uncertain or indeterminate, requiring inquiry. Logical consideration, therefore, is rooted in the transformation of an indeterminate situation into a determinate one through reflective inquiry. Logic is not about manipulating symbols in isolation, but about clarifying meanings and relationships within concrete experience.A central idea in Dewey’s logical consideration is the role of ideas or hypotheses. He maintains that ideas are anticipatory suggestions that point toward possible solutions to a problem. These ideas are logical only insofar as they are treated as provisional and are tested through reasoning and observation. Dewey rejects the view that ideas possess intrinsic certainty; instead, their logical value depends on how well they function in resolving the problem at hand.Dewey also emphasises that reasoning involves the systematic examination of relations between ideas and evidence. Logical consideration requires the thinker to trace consequences, examine consistency, and connect proposed explanations with observed facts. In this sense, logic is inseparable from verification. A conclusion is logical not because it follows formal rules alone, but because it is supported by an inquiry that links ideas with consequences in experience.Furthermore, Dewey challenges the traditional separation between inductive and deductive reasoning. He argues that in actual thinking, induction and deduction operate together as phases of the same inquiry. Observations suggest hypotheses, while reasoning about consequences guides further observation and testing. For Dewey, logical consideration is thus a dynamic and continuous process rather than a rigid sequence of steps.Dewey presents logic as a method of reflective inquiry that disciplines thinking without detaching it from life. Logical consideration is meant to cultivate intellectual responsibility, enabling individuals to control their thinking, avoid premature conclusions, and arrive at judgments that are justified by evidence and experience.When Dewey turns his attention to the practical implications of reflective thinking for education and intellectual training, he proposes that the primary aim of education should be the cultivation of habits of reflective thinking, rather than merely transmitting information or ready-made conclusions. For Dewey, the value of schooling lies in its ability to form minds capable of inquiry, judgment, and self-correction.Dewey argues that teaching should begin with the learner’s experience and with real problems that naturally arouse curiosity and doubt. He rejects instructional methods that rely on passive reception, memorisation, or mechanical drill detached from meaning. Instead, he proposes that learning situations should be organised around problematic experiences that require students to observe, question, and reason. Through this approach, students learn not only subject matter but also the method of thinking itself.Dewey argues that teachers should act as guides of inquiry rather than as mere authorities who deliver final answers. Dewey maintains that excessive reliance on authority undermines the development of independent thought. The role of the teacher is to help learners recognise problems, formulate hypotheses, and test their ideas through evidence and reflection. Authority, in Dewey’s view, should support inquiry, not replace it.Dewey also emphasises the importance of training attention, observation, and judgment. He argues that reflective thinking depends on the ability to attend carefully to relevant facts and to distinguish what is significant from what is irrelevant. Education, therefore, should deliberately cultivate intellectual habits such as patience, open-mindedness, and willingness to revise one’s beliefs in light of new evidence.Finally, Dewey proposes that education must connect thinking with action and moral responsibility. He insists that reflective thinking is incomplete unless it issues in intelligent action and conduct. Dewey presents education as a moral enterprise, in which the formation of reflective thinkers contributes to the well-being of democratic society. His central proposal is that by teaching individuals how to think, rather than what to think, education prepares them for lifelong learning and responsible participation in social life.The central message of John Dewey’s How We Think is that genuine thinking is a disciplined practice of reflective inquiry that must be deliberately cultivated, rather than a natural habit that arises automatically. Dewey insists that the true value of thinking lies not in the accumulation of opinions or information, but in the ability to suspend judgment, confront doubt honestly, and examine beliefs through evidence and reasoning.Dewey conveys that beliefs become dangerous when they are accepted uncritically, whether they originate from authority, tradition, or personal inclination. He warns that unexamined beliefs lead to rigid thinking and irresponsible action, because they bypass the process of inquiry that connects ideas to their consequences in real life. For Dewey, the responsibility of thinking is therefore inseparable from the responsibility of acting.Another crucial message of the book is that thinking is fundamentally connected to experience and action. Dewey rejects the notion that thinking is a purely abstract or detached mental exercise. Instead, he argues that ideas are instruments for dealing with problems encountered in lived situations, and their worth is measured by how well they guide intelligent action. Thinking, in this sense, is experimental, provisional, and always open to revision.Through this argument, Dewey ultimately emphasises the moral and democratic importance of reflective thinking. He suggests that a society cannot remain free, intelligent, or humane if its members merely follow ready-made conclusions. Education, therefore, carries the ethical task of forming individuals who are capable of inquiry, self-correction, and independent judgment. The central message of How We Think is that learning to think well is not only an intellectual achievement but a foundational condition for responsible citizenship and meaningful human life.
[Part 1]
