Experience and Education

Dewey continues his discussion of freedom. He argues that self-control is identical to the freedom to frame and act on one’s own purposes. He mentions that fifth-century BCE philosopher Plato described a slave as someone who acts to serve the purposes of others. Dewey considers the person without self-control a slave to internal desires and impulses. Students should participate in framing the purpose of their learning activities in progressive schools.

Dewey states that a purpose starts as an impulse that, when obstructed, converts to a desire. A purpose is a goal that involves thinking about the consequences that will come from acting on the impulse. This forethought of consequences involves intelligent planning based on objective or external circumstances. It also involves judging the significance of acting upon perceptions of objective circumstances.

Dewey enumerates the steps involved in forming purposes. The first step is to observe surrounding conditions. The second step requires thinking about what happened in the past in similar conditions. The third step is to judge the significance of empirical observations. He then states that desire itself is not true purpose, quoting the