The purpose of this article is to explore Dewey's concept of self and process of self-formation
and to identify the role of qualitative thinking in the process of self-formation. Humans are born
with various kinds of instinctive tendencies, and it takes much time and effort to realize the
tendency in life compared to other animals. The process of human self-formation is closely related
to the process of realizing human instinctive tendencies in life. Depending on what environment is
provided, the instinctive tendency of the individual is materialized in a different way. In
encountering environment, interest as a moving identity of an individual does not allow an
individual to accept the influence of the environment unconditionally but rather makes her or him
to actively find the object which fills the individual's deficiency. Thus, the process of
self-formation of the individual is a process of unique combination of the individual and
environment.
Qualitative thinking plays a particularly important role in the process of self-formation.
According to the Dewey's concept of experience, qualitative thinking emerges before and after
cognitive thinking. The qualitative thinking that emerges before the cognitive thinking allows the
individual to have a problematic sense to start a new process of self-formation, and the
qualitative thinking that emerges after the cognitive thinking maintains the continuity of
self-formation by making the individual to reflect current experience in the light of ideals. Thus,
the moment of qualitative thinking plays a crucial role in the process of human self-formation,
and without the occurrence of the moment of qualitative thinking, continuous self-formation is not
possible.