Authority Delegation
What is authority delegation? How should it be defined?
This is an interesting topic.
In the scientonomic context, this term was first used by Nicholas Overgaard and Mirka Loiselle in 2016. The term is currently accepted by Scientonomy community.
In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is:
- Epistemic agent A is said to be delegating authority over question x to epistemic agent B iff (1) agent A accepts that agent B is an expert on question x and (2) agent A will accept a theory answering question x if agent B says so.
Contents
Broader History
This is an interesting prehistory.
Scientonomic History
This is an interesting history.
Acceptance Record
Community | Accepted From | Acceptance Indicators | Still Accepted | Accepted Until | Rejection Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scientonomy | 7 September 2016 | The publication of the article by Overgaard and Loiselle titled Authority Delegation is a good indication of acceptance of the question.Overgaard and Loiselle (2016) | Yes |
All Theories
Theory | Formulation | Formulated In |
---|---|---|
Authority Delegation (Overgaard-Loiselle-2016) | Community A is said to be delegating authority over topic x to community B iff (1) community A accepts that community B is an expert on topic x and (2) community A will accept a theory on topic x if community B says so. | 2016 |
Authority Delegation (Patton-2019) | Epistemic agent A is said to be delegating authority over question x to epistemic agent B iff (1) agent A accepts that agent B is an expert on question x and (2) agent A will accept a theory answering question x if agent B says so. | 2019 |
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Accepted Theories
Community | Theory | Accepted From | Accepted Until |
---|---|---|---|
Scientonomy | Authority Delegation (Overgaard-Loiselle-2016) | 1 February 2017 | 6 February 2023 |
Scientonomy | Authority Delegation (Patton-2019) | 6 February 2023 |
Suggested Modifications
Modification | Community | Date Suggested | Summary | Date Assessed | Verdict | Verdict Rationale |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sciento-2016-0003 | Scientonomy | 7 September 2016 | Accept the notion of authority delegation. | 1 February 2017 | Accepted | There was a community consensus that the concept of authority delegation is a significant contribution to scientonomy, as it "sheds light on the mechanism by which the more local, specialized mosaics of epistemic/scientific sub-communities gives rise to the more global scientific mosaic (of *the* Scientific Community), and all in terms of theories and methods".c1 It was also noted that the concept "has already been tacitly accepted by our community"c2 as it has been incorporated in some recent scientonomic research. One further suggestion was to continue refining the concept of authority delegation by focusing on cases "where the delegating community applies its own additional criteria before accepting what the experts tell them".c3 |
Sciento-2019-0017 | Scientonomy | 26 December 2019 | Accept the definitions of authority delegation, and its subtypes, that generalize the currently accepted definitions to apply to all epistemic agents, rather than only communities. | 6 February 2023 | Accepted | The commentators found the modification uncontroversial.c1 c2 It was noted that the modification "merely attempts to capture what is already de facto accepted - namely, the idea that authority can be delegated by and to epistemic agents of all kinds (both communal and individual)" as indicated by the "fact that the canonical examples of authority delegation often involve individual experts (see, for example, Loiselle 2017)".c3 It was agreed that the modification "introduces a necessary rewording in the definitions of authority delegation and its species".c4 |
Current View
In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is Authority Delegation (Patton-2019).
Authority Delegation (Patton-2019) states: "Epistemic agent A is said to be delegating authority over question x to epistemic agent B iff (1) agent A accepts that agent B is an expert on question x and (2) agent A will accept a theory answering question x if agent B says so."
The definition tweaks the original definition of the term by Overgaard and Loiselle to ensure that the relationship of authority delegation can obtain between epistemic agents of all types. It also substitutes question for topic, as the former is the proper scientonomic term that should be used.
Related Topics
References
- ^ Williams, Bernard. (2002) Truth and Truthfulness: An Essay in Genealogy. Princeton University Press.
- ^ Barseghyan, Hakob. (2015) The Laws of Scientific Change. Springer.
- a b Bird, Alexander. (2000) Thomas Kuhn. Princeton University Press.
- ^ Coady, Cecil. (1994) Testimony, Observation and "Autonomous Knowledge". In Matilal and Charkrabarti (Eds.) (1994).
- ^ Lipton, Peter. (1998) The Epistemology of Testimony. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science 29 (1), 1-31.
- ^ Shapin (1998)
- ^ Hardwig, John. (1985) Epistemic Dependence. The Journal of Philosophy 82 (7), 335-349.
- ^ Porter, Theodore. (1995) Trust in Numbers: The pursuit of objectivity in science and public life. Princeton University Press.