The Thoughts Of Dewey Through Systemic Functional Linguistics

Russell (1961: 775):

From a strictly philosophical point of view, the chief importance of Dewey's work lies in his criticism of the traditional notion of 'truth', which is embodied in the theory that he calls 'instrumentalism'.  Truth, as conceived by most professional philosophers, is static and final, perfect and eternal; … Dewey's interests are biological … he conceives thought as an evolutionary process.  The traditional view would, of course, admit that men gradually come to know more, but each piece of knowledge, when achieved, is regarded as something final.

Blogger Comment:

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic theory, meaning evolves in context, and what meaning affords the species has the potential to change the contexts in which it evolves.  Like biological evolution, the evolution of meaning is potentially unending, and it involves the fitting of the system to the environment in which it functions.

The Thoughts Of Schopenhauer Vs Systemic Functional Linguistics [4]

Russell (1961: 727):

Historically, two things are important about Schopenhauer: his pessimism, and his doctrine that will is superior to knowledge. … More important than pessimism was the doctrine of the primacy of the will. … In one form or another, the doctrine that the will is paramount has been held by many modern philosophers, notably Nietzsche, Bergson, James, and Dewey.

Blogger Comment:

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic theory, the distinction between will and knowledge is the distinction between desiderative consciousness (a senser desiring) and the contents of cognitive consciousness (the projected ideas of a senser thinking).