1.3. Pragmatism: an epistemology to take pluralism into account

1.3.A. Inquiry and reflectivity allow for defining what matters to us

In John Dewey’s (1939) pragmatist perspective, an inquiry is a process of clarification and unification of problematic situations encountered by people.

Inquiry amounts to an intelligent exploration of (i) the ins and outs of a problematic situation, (ii) the desirable ends to solve the problem, and (iii) the available means to achieve it, and their expected consequences. The methods, procedures of experimentation and social elements of the inquiry make it actually close from a scientific investigation. In this perspective, the inquiry is flexible and dynamic, likely to evolve while problematic situations are defined and re-defined. 

Inquiries acquire a social dimension when new actors are involved in the process, each bringing their own vision of the world and sharing it with the others through intersubjective exchanges. Social inquiries thus allow for collectively setting a problem, agreeing at its terms, and on defining a solution i.e., an objective, at a given moment, to pursue and the means to use. According to Dewey’s pragmatist epistemology, this actually amounts to define what matters to us or, to put it differently, to form values, that are therefore contingent of the situation within which they occur. This perspective is interesting because it states that values are not fixed, abstract, dematerialized and purely individual features, but rather a dynamic, social, and practical process of taking care of something.