title: John Dewey's pragmatist alternative to the belief-acceptance dichotomy.
abstract: Defenders of value-free science appeal to cognitive attitudes as part of a wedge strategy, to mark a distinction between science proper and the uses of science for decision-making, policy, etc. Distinctions between attitudes like belief and acceptance have played an important role in defending the value-free ideal. In this paper, I will explore John Dewey's pragmatist philosophy of science as an alternative to the philosophical framework the wedge strategy rests on. Dewey does draw significant and useful distinctions between different sorts of cognitive attitudes taken by inquirers, but none can be used to support the wedge strategy.
authors.affiliation: Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Rd. JO 31, Richardson, TX, 75248, USA. Electronic address: mattbrown@utdallas.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D003071:Cognition; D049673:History, 20th Century; D010684:Philosophy / Q000266:history*; D012586:Science / Q000266:history*
keywords: Belief; Cognitive attitudes; John Dewey; Pragmatism; Truth; Values in science