NDLI: Life at the Frontier: The Relevance of Heuristic Appraisal to Policy

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Nickles, Thomas
Copyright Year	2009
Abstract	Economic competitive advantage depends on innovation, which in turn requires pushing back the frontiers of various kinds of knowledge. Although understanding how knowledge grows ought to be a central topic of epistemology, epistemologists and philosophers of science have given it insufficient attention, even deliberately shunning the topic. Traditional confirmation theory and general epistemology offer little help at the frontier, because they are mostly retrospective rather than prospective. Nor have philosophers been highly visible in the science and technology policy realm, despite philosophy’s being a normative discipline. This paper suggests a way to address both deficits. Creative scientists, technologists, business managers, and policy makers face similar problems of decision-making at their respective frontiers of knowledge. These areas should therefore be fertile ground for both epistemologists and philosophers concerned with policy. Here I call attention to the importance of heuristic appraisal for “frontier epistemology” and to policy formation. Evaluation of the comparative promise or expected fertility of available options comprises a cluster of activities that cut across traditional discovery/justification and descriptive/normative distinctions. The study of weak modes of reasoning and evaluation is especially relevant to socio-economic policy.
Starting Page	441
Ending Page	464
Page Count	24
File Format	PDF
ISSN	15728390
Journal	Axiomathes
Volume Number	19
Issue Number	4
e-ISSN	15728390
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2009-10-01
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Frontier epistemology Heuristic appraisal Science Society Innovation Scientific creativity Science and technology studies Expertise Policy Logic Cognitive Psychology Linguistics (general) Ontology Philosophy
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

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