Abstract

Several writers have maintained that the Kuhnian revolution in philosophy of science amounts, in part, to an increased appreciation of the role of value judgments and decisions in theory appraisal. This paper argues that, Laudan's recent skeptical remarks notwithstanding, recourse to subjective criteria in the application and weighing of shared choice criteria makes good sense. The paper also shows how the structuralist theory-notion, which should be congenial to Kuhn on independent grounds, helps to locate and explicate some vague and ambiguous values, such as simplicity.