Cristian Larroulet Philippi (University of Colorado, Boulder)
One area of science where the collective good is particularly at stake is science's research agenda. But which is that collective good that science's research agenda should promote? Kitcher has provided an ideal account: well-ordered science (WOS). Against criticism regarding WOS's lack of capacity for guiding action, Kitcher advises not to confuse ideals and the ways to arrive at them (2002, 2011). Here I argue the problem remains even under that distinction. Kitcher understands WOS as a hypothetical procedure, the answers of which we should aim at. I show that, since those answers cannot be known, WOS provides no ideal SRA as benchmark. Thus, it cannot guide action.
