China Social Science Review

No.1, 2023

Philosophy of Knowledge and Action: From Dewey’s Epistemology to Predictive Mind

(Abstract)

Ye Feinan

Predictive mind claims that the brain is a predictive machine that uses hierarchical sensory reasoning and active reasoning to minimize prediction errors. This theory emphasizes the practical priority of cognition, instigating a “Copernican revolution” within the ambit of cognitive science and philosophy of mind. The cognitive view of predictive mind and Dewey’s epistemology have some similarities. Dewey regarded experimental inquiry as the nature of knowing; this implies the unity of knowing/acting and the primacy of action. Dewey’s epistemology of experimental inquiry fits predictive mind in three ways. First, inquiry is a type of prediction errors minimization in the form of active reasoning. Second, the concept of an operational nature corresponds to the hypothesis of digital probability. Finally, in Kant’s sense, the object of knowledge constructed by inquiry and consequences corresponds to a priori probability. These three similarities give us a better understanding of the two approaches to the priority of knowledge and action: both consider knowledge and action as means of arriving at good consequences. Elucidating the connection between predictive mind and Dewey’s epistemology facilitates exploration of the value of classical pragmatism in the contemporary philosophy of mind, thus promoting the study of the philosophy of knowledge and action.