Interpreter and Interpretant • Selection 5
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https://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2025/01/11/interpreter-and-interpretant-sele…
Inquiry and Inference —
If we follow Dewey's “Sign of Rain” story far enough to consider the import
of thought for action, we realize the subsequent conduct of the interpreter,
progressing up through the natural conclusion of the episode — the quickening
steps, the seeking of shelter in time to escape the rain — all those acts amount
to a series of further interpretants for the initially recognized signs of rain
and the first impressions of the actual case. Just as critical reflection develops
the positive and negative signs which gather about an idea, pragmatic interpretation
explores the consequential and contrasting actions which give effective and testable
meaning to a person's belief in it.
Figure 3 charts the progress of inquiry in Dewey's narrative according to
the stages of reasoning identified in Peirce's theory of inquiry, focusing
on the compound pattern of inference formed by the first two steps.
Figure 3. Cycle of Inquiry
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https://inquiryintoinquiry.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/cycle-of-inquiry-gra…
Step 1 is Abductive,
abstracting a Case from the consideration of a Fact and a Rule.
• Fact : C ⇒ A, In the Current situation the Air is cool.
• Rule : B ⇒ A, Just Before it rains, the Air is cool.
• Case : C ⇒ B, The Current situation is just Before it rains.
Step 2 is Deductive,
admitting the Case to another Rule and arriving at a novel Fact.
• Case : C ⇒ B, The Current situation is just Before it rains.
• Rule : B ⇒ D, Just Before it rains, a Dark cloud will appear.
• Fact : C ⇒ D, In the Current situation, a Dark cloud will appear.
What precedes is nowhere near a complete analysis of Dewey's example,
even as possible in a syllogistic framework, and it covers only the
first two steps of the inquiry process, but perhaps it will do for
a start.
References —
Dewey, J. (1910), How We Think, D.C. Heath, Boston, MA.
Reprinted (1991), Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY.
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https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37423/37423-h/37423-h.htm
Awbrey, J.L., and Awbrey, S.M. (1995), “Interpretation as Action : The Risk
of Inquiry”, Inquiry : Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines 15(1), 40–52.
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https://web.archive.org/web/20001210162300/http://chss.montclair.edu/inquir…
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https://www.pdcnet.org/inquiryct/content/inquiryct_1995_0015_0001_0040_0052
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https://www.academia.edu/1266493/Interpretation_as_Action_The_Risk_of_Inqui…
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https://www.academia.edu/57812482/Interpretation_as_Action_The_Risk_of_Inqu…
Resources —
Survey of Inquiry Driven Systems
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https://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/02/28/survey-of-inquiry-driven-systems-…
Survey of Semiotics, Semiosis, Sign Relations
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https://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2024/01/26/survey-of-semiotics-semiosis-sign…
Regards,
Jon
cc:
https://www.academia.edu/community/5467KX
cc:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Interpreter_and_Interpretant