# Impulse and Intelligence as Agents of Change in Human Nature and Conduct

> Theme guide for Human Nature and Conduct by John Dewey.

Dewey presents impulse as the source of novelty and renewal, while intelligence (reflective thought) is necessary to direct impulses toward constructive reorganization of habits and customs.

## Where it surfaces

- [Custom and Habit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/iv-custom-and-habit): Dewey contrasts blind habit with intelligent thought, and criticizes the separation that leaves habit routine and thought ineffective.
- [Custom and Morality](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/v-custom-and-morality): Dewey distinguishes between routine habit and intelligent habit (art), arguing that reflective intelligence emerges from social customs and can reorganize them, serving as an experimental and creative force.
- [Habit and Social Psychology](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/vi-habit-and-social-psychology): The chapter introduces impulse as the beginning of individuality in mind, arising from conflict of habits and leading to deliberate efforts to transform customs and environment.
- [Part II: The Place of Impulse in Conduct](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/part-ii-the-place-of-impulse-in-conduct): Impulse is presented as a crucial force that breaks the inertia of habit and opens the door for intelligent reconstruction of conduct.
- [I: Impulses and Change of Habit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/i-impulses-and-change-of-habit): Impulses are described as 'pivots' for reorganizing habits and as agencies of deviation, essential for understanding social transition and reform.
- [Plasticity of Impulse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/ii-plasticity-of-impulse): Argues that impulse, when intelligently directed, can reorganize habits and rejuvenate society from within.
- [III: Changing Human Nature](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/iii-changing-human-nature): Dewey discusses how native tendencies like pugnacity and fear interact, and how motives are not pre-existing but are judgments made in light of consequences, guiding intelligent action.
- [Impulse and Conflict of Habits](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/iv-impulse-and-conflict-of-habits): The chapter explores how impulse can serve as an intermediary for reorganizing habits, especially through education of the young and through conflicts among incompatible habits, and emphasizes the need for intelligent direction to modulate conflict into constructive synthesis.
- [V: Classification of Instincts](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/v-classification-of-instincts): Dewey emphasizes that impulses are not fixed but are plastic and can be redirected through intelligent social engineering and education.
- [No Separate Instincts](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/vi-no-separate-instincts): Impulses are not static; they are modified by intelligence and environment. Play and art are presented as intelligent re-creations that balance and enrich life.
- [Impulse and Thought](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/vii-impulse-and-thought): Impulse is presented as an opportunity for renewal, but intelligence is required to direct it toward reconstructing habits and ends.
- [Habit and Intelligence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/i-habit-and-intelligence): Intelligence arises from the conflict and reorganization of habit and impulse; impulse directs inquiry while habit supplies content.
- [The Psychology of Thinking](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/ii-the-psychology-of-thinking): Impulse is released when habits are blocked, initiating inquiry and the reconstruction of conduct.
- [III: The Nature of Deliberation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/iii-the-nature-of-deliberation): Deliberation is a dramatic rehearsal of competing impulses and habits; reason emerges from their harmonious organization, not from a separate rational faculty.
- [The Nature of Aims](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/vi-the-nature-of-aims): Dewey describes how wishes and emotional reactions (impulse) combine with intelligence (study of causation) to transform fancies into working aims.
- [The Nature of Principles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/vii-the-nature-of-principles): Intelligence is portrayed as the capacity to foresee consequences and create new principles in response to novel situations, challenging the reliance on static, ready-made moral rules.
- [Desire and Intelligence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/viii-desire-and-intelligence): Dewey argues that desire and intelligence are not opposed; impulse provides the forward urge, while intelligence guides it through deliberation and foresight.
- [Part IV: Conclusion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/part-iv-conclusion): The conclusion highlights how impulse and intelligence interact with habit, showing that conduct is a dynamic whole rather than a set of isolated functions.
- [Morals Are Human](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/ii-morals-are-human): Conflict is described as the 'gadfly of thought' that stirs observation, memory, and invention, and intelligence is tasked with using knowledge of facts to modify conditions rather than conform to them.
- [III: What Is Freedom?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/iii-what-is-freedom): The chapter emphasizes that intelligence, not will, is the key to freedom, and that deliberation and choice are determining factors that shape future events.
- [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/chapters/endnotes): Explores impulse as loose and undirected, contrasting with learned habits and the capacity for conscious betterment.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/themes/impulse_and_intelligence
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/human_nature_and_conduct_se/themes