Philip Kitcher emphasises the social context of philosophy and science. He proposes the concept of well-ordered inquiry, which holds that there are research agendas and applications subject to public control guided by ideal deliberation among well-informed and mutually engaged representatives of diverse points of view and all possible human desires. To put it another way, he gives a description of the social guidance of inquiry by means of democratic deliberation. In his view, there is no single good toward which the sciences aim. Kitcher’s assertion that inquiry pursues not merely truths, but significant truths – ones that respond to people’s needs in using them – is crucial to understanding the ideal of well-ordered inquiry. This paper outlines Kitcher’s main ideas for renewing philosophy juxtaposed with particular philosophical traditions.
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