Source: Dewey, Democracy and Education, Ch. 10
Tags: interest, discipline, will, volition, obstinacy, executive persistence, foresight of results, intellectual vs. volitional, strong will, weak will, Dewey
Dewey argues that interest and discipline are not opposites but two sides of the same coin. Interest is the depth of grip a foreseen end has on a person. Discipline is the capacity to persist through obstacles toward that end. The primary difference between strong and weak will is intellectual: it lies in how persistently and fully one thinks through consequences.
Interest (Deweyan sense)
The depth of grip that a foreseen end has upon a person, moving them to act for its realisation. Interest is not a shallow emotional attraction but an active engagement with the purpose of one's activity.
Discipline
The deliberate or conscious disposition to persist and endure in a planned course of action despite difficulties and contrary solicitations. Requires both time and obstacles between initiation and completion of an activity.
Will (two factors)
Dewey identifies two factors in will: (1) the foresight of results, and (2) the depth of hold the foreseen outcome has upon the person. Both are required for genuine volition.
Obstinacy vs. strength of volition
Obstinacy is mere persistence, often driven by inertia rather than clear purpose. The obstinate person typically declines to examine their proposed end clearly, fearing it might not be worth pursuing.
Executive ability
The capacity to persistently and energetically strive to carry out one's aims. A person of strong will is executive: neither fickle nor half-hearted in achieving chosen ends.
One-sided intellectuality
A condition where a person can trace out consequences speculatively but lacks the fibre to be gripped by them and moved to action. They "take it out" in contemplation rather than execution.
Children often "do not want to hear or want to understand" because the subject does not touch their concerns. Their minds are elsewhere.
The remedy is not to increase indifference and aversion through punishment or coercion.
Even punishment is a crude form of arousing interest: it tries to make the child realise the matter is not one of complete unconcern.
In the long run, what matters is whether the method leads the child to reflect on their acts and impregnate them with aims, or merely supplies physical excitation to comply.
Interest is requisite for sustained effort. No employer seeks a worker uninterested in their work.
Nobody would hire a lawyer or doctor on the theory that indifference to the work would produce more conscientious effort.
Interest measures the depth of the grip that a foreseen end has on a person. It is not a distraction from serious work; it is the engine of it.
Where an activity takes time and obstacles lie between start and finish, deliberation and persistence are required.
A large part of the everyday meaning of "will" is precisely this: the conscious disposition to persist in a planned course of action despite difficulties.
A person of strong will is executive, persistently striving to carry out their aims. A weak will is "unstable as water."
Foresight of results: The intellectual component. How clearly and fully does the person think through the consequences of their actions?
Depth of hold: The motivational component. How strongly does the foreseen outcome grip the person and move them to act?
Obstinacy is persistence without purpose. It may be mere animal inertia.
The obstinate person keeps doing something because they have started, not because of a clearly thought-out purpose.
They typically decline to examine their proposed end, sensing that a clear view of it might reveal it is not worthwhile.
Dewey's key claim: the primary difference between strong and feeble volition is intellectual.
It consists in the degree of persistent firmness and fullness with which consequences are thought out. This point, Dewey says, "cannot be over-emphasised."
The weak-willed or self-indulgent always deceive themselves about consequences. They pick out what is agreeable and ignore attendant circumstances. When disagreeable results appear, they are discouraged and shift to something else.
There is also a failure mode on the purely intellectual side: a person who traces out consequences speculatively but is not gripped by them.
Ends are foreseen but remain objects of curiosity rather than goals to achieve.
A "certain flabbiness of fibre" prevents the contemplated object from engaging the person in action.
⚠️ Dewey's claim that the difference between strong and weak will is primarily intellectual is counter-intuitive and commonly tested. Most students expect the answer to be about willpower or emotional grit.
⚠️ Interest and discipline are not opposites in Dewey's framework. This is a frequent exam trap. Interest fuels discipline; discipline without interest is mere obstinacy.
⚠️ Know the distinction between obstinacy and genuine strength of will. Obstinacy is persistence without foresight; genuine will combines clear thinking about consequences with the motivational grip to act on them.
⚠️ One-sided intellectuality is the mirror failure: thinking without acting. Dewey rejects both extremes.
Q: According to Dewey, what are the two factors that constitute will?
A: (1) The foresight of results, the intellectual capacity to think through consequences clearly and fully. (2) The depth of hold that the foreseen outcome has upon the person, moving them to act for its realisation.
Q: Why does Dewey claim the primary difference between strong and weak volition is intellectual?
A: Because weak-willed people deceive themselves about consequences. They focus on what is agreeable and ignore the rest. When disagreeable results appear, they give up and shift course. Strong volition comes from thinking through consequences persistently and fully, not from raw emotional force.
Q: How does Dewey distinguish obstinacy from genuine strength of will?
A: Obstinacy is mere persistence, often driven by inertia. The obstinate person avoids examining their end clearly. Genuine strength of will involves both clear foresight of the end and the motivational grip to pursue it through obstacles.
Q: Why does Dewey argue that interest is essential to discipline, rather than opposed to it?
A: Interest is the depth of grip a foreseen end has on a person. Without that grip, persistence is either obstinacy (blind inertia) or compliance (external pressure). Discipline, real sustained effort through difficulty, requires the person to care about the outcome. Interest supplies that care.
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