Introduction
The term “science,” for Dewey, can refer either: (a) to the particular inquiry process by which one can achieve genuine knowledge of nature or (b) to the body of genuine knowledge produced by that inquiry process. I will disambiguate the term by referring always to “scientific inquiry” or to “scientific knowledge.”
Dewey holds that the method of inquiry is the only means of coming to have knowledge about real thing/events and that scientific inquiry is the most highly developed form of inquiry. Dewey conceives knowledge to be a set of beliefs well warranted to be true about the dynamic interactive events that constitute the natural world. Knowledge with respect to any subject matter can be developed through the process of inquiry.
Scientific inquiry is a natural investigative activity that developed as an elaboration of practical common-sense inquiry, the process by which certain complex organisms act in response to their environment. The aim of practical inquiry is the...
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References
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McCarthy, C.L. (2017). Dewey on Science and Science Education. In: Peters, M.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-588-4_42
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