Certainty and Uncertainty

As Dewey has argued, much of traditional Philosophy can be construed as a 'quest for certainty', which entails that Certainty is its highest principle. Descartes is the most obvious exemplar of an advocate of the principle, but so too is a 'Skeptic' such as Hume, for whom sense impressions are no less certain than the thought 'I am' is for the former. The traditional priority of Theory over Practice is based on the potential certitude of the former and the uncertainty of the latter. For example, the priority of Sophia over Phronesis for Aristotle is based on the Certainty to be achieved in the self-sufficiency of 'thought thinking it itself', as opposed to the indeterminacies entailed in any physical activity. Dewey's thesis would also explain the most influential of modern Moral Theories--Kantianism and Utilitarianism. The foundation of the former is the motive behind an act, while of the latter, the feeling that is the effect of an act, both moments of Certainty in an otherwise indeterminate flux of processes. And, the thesis would explain any aversion to questionability and to choice, both of which entail uncertainty. Now, the specific purpose of Dewey's project is to promote Pragmatism, namely, following Peirce's 'Fallibilism', to replace Certainty with Probability as an Epistemological principle. He therefore bypasses the more comprehensiving challenge to Certaintism, namely that Uncertainty is as valued in human activity as Certainty is, i. e. that novelty, adventure, risk, and Freedom of Choice, for example, all entail Uncertainty.