Faculty Publications

The Epistemic Value Of Curiosity

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Educational Theory

Volume

58

Issue

2

First Page

125

Last Page

148

Abstract

In this essay, Frederick Schmitt and Reza Lahroodi explore the value of curiosity for inquiry and knowledge. They defend an appetitive account of curiosity, viewing curiosity as a motivationally original desire to know that arises from having one's attention drawn to the object and that in turn sustains one's attention to it. Distinguishing curiosity from wonder, the authors explore several sources of the epistemic value of curiosity. First, curiosity is tenacious: curiosity whether a proposition is true leads to curiosity about related issues, thereby deepening our knowledge. Second, it is to some extent biased in favor of topics in which we already have a practical or epistemic interest. Third, and most important, curiosity is largely independent of our interests: it fixes our attention on objects in which we have no antecedent interest, thereby broadening our knowledge. Schmitt and Lahroodi elucidate the value of curiosity by outlining its role in levels of development - an approach indebted to John Dewey's explanation of the value of curiosity. Finally, they raise some questions about the implications of their account for educational practice. © 2008 Board of Trustees.

Department

Department of Philosophy and Religion

Original Publication Date

5-1-2008

DOI of published version

10.1111/j.1741-5446.2008.00281.x

Link to Full Text

Comments?

Share

COinS