The public role of experts poses a prima facie dilemma for democracy: popular sovereignty or deference to epistemic authority? This issue was central to the Lippmann-Dewey exchange a century ago and remains very much alive. After the death of the value-free ideal, philosophers of science have drawn on unrealistic idealizations from political philosophy to address this problem. I provide an alternative approach, arguing first for returning to the status quo ante of the quasi-technocratic administrative state as a transitional platform for reforms that can address our current social situation and meet the concerns raised by Lippmann and Dewey.

MATTHEW J BROWN is the Boydston Professor of American Philosophy and Director of the Center for Dewey Studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His research areas include pragmatism, pluralism, and science and values. He is Editor of HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science.

ZOOM
https://msu.zoom.us/j/94209869479
Meeting ID: 942 0986 9479
Passcode: 986224