Abstract
When science makes cognitive progress, who or what is it that improves in the requisite way? According to a widespread and unchallenged assumption, it is the cognitive attitudes of scientists themselves, i.e. the agents by whom scientific progress is made, that improve during progressive episodes. This paper argues against this assumption and explores a different approach. Scientific progress should be defined in terms of potential improvements to the cognitive attitudes of those for whom progress is made, i.e. the receivers rather than the producers of scientific information. This includes not only scientists themselves, but also various other individuals who utilize scientific information in different ways for the benefit of society as a whole.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 20-28 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Studies in History and Philosophy of Science |
| Volume | 97 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information: This paper was presented at the University of Wuppertal, Eindhoven University of Technology, and University of Zurich. I am very grateful to the audiences for insightful comments and discussions. I am even more grateful for written comments from Insa Lawler, James Norton, Anna Leuschner, and several anonymous reviewers. Research for this paper was supported by the Icelandic Research Fund (Grant 195617-051). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)Other keywords
- Cognitive states
- Collective attitudes
- Open science
- Public information
- Scientific progress
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