List of Open Questions
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Here all the open questions accepted by the community:
| Topic | Topic Type | Question | Formulated Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accepted Methodology and Theory Pursuit | Descriptive | Is there any connection between an accepted methodology and the pursuit of a theory? | 2016 |
| Anomalies | Normative | Under which circumstances, changes in beliefs in methods would qualify as an anomaly for Scientonomy? | 2018 |
| Applicability of Scientonomy to Theories as Models | Descriptive | Is the theory of scientific change applicable to theories construed as sets of models, or in ways that reject their purely formal characterization? | 2017 |
| Applicability of the Laws of Scientific Change | Descriptive | To which mosaics do the laws of scientific change apply? Do they apply only to scientific communities, to all epistemic communities, or all communities whatsoever (including non-epistemic communities)? Do these patterns emerge and exist in communities who gather together to study the world? | 2017 |
| Applicability of the Laws of Scientific Change to Individuals | Descriptive | Do the scientonomic laws apply to individual epistemic agents? | 2019 |
| Application of Scientonomy to Other Fields | Descriptive | What is the broader relevance of scientonomy? How can scientonomy inform other fields of inquiry? | 2018 |
| Application of Scientonomy to Philosophy of Science | Descriptive | How can the findings of scientonomy be applied to answer the traditional questions of the philosophy of science? | 2018 |
| Assessment of Scientonomy - Method | Normative | What method ought to be employed to assess a scientonomic theory? | 2015 |
| Associations of Authority Delegation | Descriptive | How is the class of authority delegation associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between authority delegations, as well as between an authority delegation and instances of other classes? | 2016 |
| Associations of Compatibility | Descriptive | How is the class of compatibility associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between instances of compatibility, as well as between compatibility and instances of other classes? | 2018 |
| Associations of Descriptive Theory | Descriptive | How is the class of descriptive theory associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between descriptive theories, as well as between a descriptive theory and instances of other classes? | 2016 |
| Associations of Epistemic Agent | Descriptive | How is the class of epistemic agent associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between epistemic agents, as well as between an epistemic agent and instances of other classes? | 2019 |
| Associations of Epistemic Element | Descriptive | How is the class of epistemic element associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between epistemic elements, as well as between an epistemic element and instances of other classes? | 2015 |
| Associations of Epistemic Stance | Descriptive | How is the class of epistemic stance associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between epistemic stances, as well as between an epistemic stance and instances of other classes? | 2015 |
| Associations of Implicit | Descriptive | How is the class of implicit associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between implicits, as well as between an implicit and instances of other classes? | 2018 |
| Associations of Method | Descriptive | How is the class of method associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between methods, as well as between a method and instances of other classes? | 2015 |
| Associations of Norm Employment | Descriptive | How is the class of norm employment associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between instances of norm employment, as well as between norm employment and instances of other classes? | 2018 |
| Associations of Normative Theory | Descriptive | How is the class of normative theory associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between normative theories, as well as between a normative theory and instances of other classes? | 2016 |
| Associations of Question Acceptance | Descriptive | How is the class of question acceptance associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between instances of question acceptance, as well as between question acceptance and instances of other classes? | 2018 |
| Associations of Theory Acceptance | Descriptive | How is the class of theory acceptance associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between instances of theory acceptance, as well as between theory acceptance and instances of other classes? | 2015 |
| Associations of Theory Pursuit | Descriptive | How is the class of theory pursuit associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between theory pursuits, as well as between a theory pursuit and instances of other classes? | 2015 |
| Associations of Theory Use | Descriptive | How is the class of theory use associated with other classes (and itself)? What aggregation, composition, or other association relations can exist between instances of theory use, as well as between theory use and instances of other classes? | 2015 |
| Conclusive Theory Assessment | Descriptive | Are there any actual historical instances of conclusive theory assessment or does every case of theory assessment involve some degree of inconclusiveness? | 2016 |
| Core Question | Definitional | What is core question? How should it be defined? | 2021 |
| Core Theory | Definitional | What is core theory? How should it be defined? | 2021 |
| Deducibility in Method Employment | Descriptive | What does deducibility in the the law of method employment mean? Does it refer to the deducibility of classic logic, or to a logic accepted by the community at the time? | 2018 |
| Delegation of Authority to Artifacts | Descriptive | Can there be delegation of authority to tools, instruments, other material objects, or to computer software? | 2016 |
| Delegation of Authority to Individuals | Descriptive | Can there be delegation of authority to individuals? | 2018 |
| Delegation of Authority to Past Communities | Descriptive | Is it possible for a community to delegate authority to a community that no longer exists? Can a community delegate authority to a past expert? | 2017 |
| Delineating Theory | Definitional | What is delineating theory? How should it be defined? | 2021 |
| Deriving Methods from an Empty Set | Descriptive | Does the possibility of a method being derived from an empty set pose a problem for the current formulation of the third law? Can we conceive of a situation in which a method is derived from an empty subset? | 2017 |
| Discipline | Definitional | What is discipline? How should it be defined? | 2021 |
| Discipline Acceptance | Definitional | What is discipline acceptance? How should it be defined? | 2021 |
| Disjointness of Accidental Group | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of accidental group disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with accidental group? | 2016 |
| Disjointness of Community | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of community disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with community? | 2016 |
| Disjointness of Compatibility | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of compatibility disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with compatibility? | 2018 |
| Disjointness of Descriptive Theory | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of descriptive theory disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with descriptive theory? | 2016 |
| Disjointness of Epistemic Agent | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of epistemic agent disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with epistemic agent? | 2019 |
| Disjointness of Epistemic Element | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of epistemic element disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with epistemic element? | 2015 |
| Disjointness of Epistemic Stance | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of epistemic stance disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with epistemic stance? | 2015 |
| Disjointness of Error | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of error disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with error? | 2019 |
| Disjointness of Explicable-Implicit | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of explicable-implicit disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with explicable-implicit? | 2018 |
| Disjointness of Method | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of method disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with method? | 2015 |
| Disjointness of Methodology | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of methodology disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with methodology? | 2015 |
| Disjointness of Norm Employment | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of norm employment disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with norm employment? | 2018 |
| Disjointness of Normative Theory | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of normative theory disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with normative theory? | 2016 |
| Disjointness of Question | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of question disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with question? | 2018 |
| Disjointness of Question Acceptance | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of question acceptance disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with question acceptance? | 2018 |
| Disjointness of Theory | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of theory disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with theory? | 2015 |
| Disjointness of Theory Acceptance | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of theory acceptance disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with theory acceptance? | 2015 |
| Disjointness of Theory Pursuit | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of theory pursuit disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with theory pursuit? | 2015 |
| Disjointness of Theory Use | Descriptive | What other classes is the class of theory use disjoint with, i.e. classes that don't share any instances with theory use? | 2015 |
| Epistemic Community | Definitional | What is epistemic community? How should it be defined? I.e. how is it different from non-epistemic community? | 2016 |
| Epistemic Element | Definitional | What is epistemic element? How should it be defined? | 2015 |
| Epistemic Presupposition | Definitional | What is epistemic presupposition? How should it be defined? | 2019 |
| Epistemic Stance | Definitional | What is epistemic stance? How should it be defined? | 2015 |
| Existence of Compatibility | Descriptive | Does compatibility exist? | 2018 |
| Existence of Descriptive Theory | Descriptive | Does a descriptive theory exist? | 2016 |
| Existence of Epistemic Agent | Descriptive | Does an epistemic agent exist? | 2019 |
| Existence of Method | Descriptive | Does a method exist? | 2015 |
| Existence of Method Hierarchies | Descriptive | Do method hierarchies exist? | 2019 |
| Existence of Norm Employment | Descriptive | Does norm employment exist? | 2018 |
| Existence of Normative Theory | Descriptive | Does a normative theory exist? | 2016 |
| Existence of Question | Descriptive | Does a question exist? | 2018 |
| Existence of Theory Pursuit | Descriptive | Does a theory pursuit exist? | 2015 |
| Existence of Theory Use | Descriptive | Does theory use exist? | 2015 |
| Hierarchy of Theories | Descriptive | Is there a hierarchy of theories that determines hierarchical authority delegation, hierarchical anomaly-tolerance, compatibility criteria or theory acceptance criteria? | 2018 |
| Implementation vs. Employment of Methods | Descriptive | Is there a difference between implementation and employment of a method? Is the mechanism of implementation the same as the mechanism of employment? | 2017 |
| Indicators of Communities | Normative | What types of historical markers can be taken as indicative that a certain group constituted an epistemic community at a certain time community? | 2018 |
| Indicators of Inconclusiveness | Descriptive | What indicators enable us to identify a historical case of inconclusive theory assessment? | 2016 |
| Indicators of Question Acceptance | Normative | What type of historical markers can be taken as indicative that a question was accepted by an agent at a given time? | 2018 |
| Indicators of Violation | Normative | What are the methodological indicators of violations of scientific change? | 2018 |
| Individual and Communal Levels | Descriptive | What is the relation between the communal and the individual level? To what extent can the individual level epistemic stances tell about the communal level? | 2018 |
| Inferring Theory Assessment Outcomes | Normative | What can an observational scientonomist infer about a theory's assessment outcome from the theory's acceptance/unacceptance? | 2017 |
| Logical Presupposition | Definitional | What is logical presupposition? How should it be defined? | 2021 |
| Mechanism of Norm Employment | Descriptive | How do norms become employed by an epistemic agent? | 2022 |
| Mechanism of Question Acceptance | Descriptive | How do questions become accepted as legitimate topics of inquiry? What is the mechanism of question acceptance? | 2018 |
| Mechanism of Question Rejection | Descriptive | What is the mechanism of question rejection? How do questions become rejected by epistemic agents? | 2021 |
| Mechanism of Theory Pursuit | Descriptive | What is the mechanism of theory pursuit, if any? How do theories become pursued by communities? Is pursuit purely determined by sociocultural factors or is there an epistemic element to it as well? | 2015 |
| Method Hierarchy | Definitional | What is method hierarchy? How should it be defined? | 2019 |
| Methodology and Methods | Descriptive | Can a method become employed by being the deductive consequence of an already accepted methodology? How would this affect the Methodology Can Shape Methods theorem? | 2016 |
| Methods Shaping Theory Construction | Descriptive | Do our employed methods and accepted demarcation criteria influence theory construction? | 2016 |
| Methods and Technical Research Tools | Descriptive | What is the relationship between methods and technical research tools? | 2016 |
| Necessary Descriptive Theories | Descriptive | Are there descriptive theories that are necessarily part of any mosaic? What descriptive theories, is any, are necessary for the process of scientific change to occur? | 2023 |
| Necessary Logic | Descriptive | What minimal set of inference rules (i.e. logic) is required for scientific change to occur? | 2018 |
| Necessary Questions | Descriptive | Are there questions that are necessarily part of any mosaic? What questions, if any, are necessary for the process of scientific change to occur? | 2018 |
| Non-Epistemic Community | Definitional | What is non-epistemic community? How should it be defined? I.e. how can it be differentiated from epistemic community? | 2016 |
| Normative Effects of Scientonomy | Descriptive | What are the normative effects of scientonomy on the process of scientific change? | 2018 |
| Philosophy of Science - Demarcation | Descriptive | Can scientonomy as a descriptive empirical science of science be applied to solve the problem of demarcation? | 2018 |
| Philosophy of Science - Relativism | Descriptive | Can scientonomy as a descriptive empirical science of science be applied to solve the problem of scientific progress? | 2018 |
| Philosophy of Science - Scientific Progress | Descriptive | Can scientonomy as a descriptive empirical science of science be applied to solve the problem of scientific progress/relativism? | 2018 |
| Possibility of Scientonomy - Preconditions | Descriptive | Under which conditions do the patterns of scientific change emerge and hold? | 2018 |
| Pursuit and Acceptance | Descriptive | What is the relationship between the process of theory acceptance and that of theory pursuit? | 2018 |
| Question Pursuit | Definitional | What is question pursuit? How should it be defined? | 2022 |
| Role of Ethics in Scientific Change | Descriptive | What role do ethical concerns play in scientific change? Are ethical norms capable of affecting employed methods? | 2016 |
| Role of Non-Social and Environmental Factors in Scientific Change | Descriptive | In addition to interactions between people in a community, what role do interactions between people and their natural, non-social environment have on the process of scientific change? | 2017 |
| Role of Practical Considerations in Scientific Change | Descriptive | What is the role of practical considerations such as financial constraints or limitations of manpower in the process of scientific change? | 2016 |
| Role of Sociocultural Factors in Method Employment | Descriptive | What is the role of sociocultural factors, such as economics or politics, in the process of method employment? | 2015 |
| Role of Sociocultural Factors in Mosaic Split | Descriptive | What role do sociocultural factors play in a mosaic split? | 2018 |
| Role of Used Theories in Method Employment | Descriptive | Does the third law allow for methods to be deductive consequences of used theories? | 2017 |
| Scientific Community | Definitional | What is scientific community? Can it be defined as more than simply “the bearer of a mosaic”? | 2015 |
| Scope of Scientonomy - Mosaic Formation | Normative | Should Scientonomy tackle the question of the initial formation of a scientific mosaic? | 2018 |
| Scope of Scientonomy - Tracing Implicit and Explicit | Normative | Should observational scientonomy trace when a certain stance towards an epistemic element was taken explicitly or implicitly? | 2018 |
| Sociocultural Factors | Definitional | What are sociocultural factors? How should they be defined? | 2016 |
| Status of Disciplinary Boundaries | Descriptive | How do disciplinary boundaries exist within the scientific mosaic? | 2016 |
| Status of Impossible Abstract Requirements | Descriptive | What happens in situations where an abstract requirement can't be met? What do we do when we would like to keep certain theories but those theories are left in limbo? | 2018 |
| Status of Method and Methodology | Descriptive | Can Method and Methodology be defined such that it doesn't rely on the implicit-explicit distinction? | 2018 |
| Status of Models | Descriptive | What is the status of models in the mosaic? | 2016 |
| Status of Reasons | Descriptive | Do epistemic communities accept reasons during theory acceptance? If they do, what is the nature of the relationship between reasons and scientific change? Is it possible for a theory to remain accepted while the original reason for its acceptance is replaced by another? | 2018 |
| Status of Tacit Theories | Descriptive | What is the status of tacit theories in the scientific mosaic? Is it possible for a community to actually accept a theory without openly formulating it? | 2016 |
| Subdiscipline | Definitional | What is subdiscipline? How should it be defined? | 2021 |
| Subquestion | Definitional | What is subquestion? How should it be defined? | 2021 |
| Subtypes of Authority Delegation | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of an authority delegation? | 2016 |
| Subtypes of Community | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of a community? | 2016 |
| Subtypes of Compatibility | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of compatibility? | 2018 |
| Subtypes of Definition | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of a definition? | 2018 |
| Subtypes of Descriptive Theory | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of a descriptive theory? | 2016 |
| Subtypes of Epistemic Agent | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of an epistemic agent? | 2019 |
| Subtypes of Method | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of a method? | 2015 |
| Subtypes of Norm Employment | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of norm employment? | 2018 |
| Subtypes of Outcome Inconclusive | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of an outcome inconclusive? | 2015 |
| Subtypes of Question | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of a question? | 2018 |
| Subtypes of Question Acceptance | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of question acceptance? | 2018 |
| Subtypes of Theory Acceptance | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of theory acceptance? | 2015 |
| Subtypes of Theory Pursuit | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of a theory pursuit? | 2015 |
| Subtypes of Theory Use | Descriptive | What are the subtypes of theory use? | 2015 |
| Supertypes of Community | Descriptive | What are the supertypes of a community? | 2016 |
| Supertypes of Epistemic Agent | Descriptive | What are the supertypes of an epistemic agent? | 2019 |
| Supertypes of Epistemic Element | Descriptive | What are the supertypes of an epistemic element? | 2015 |
| Supertypes of Epistemic Stance | Descriptive | What are the supertypes of an epistemic stance? | 2015 |
| Supertypes of Hierarchical Authority Delegation | Descriptive | What are the supertypes of a hierarchical authority delegation? | 2017 |
| Tautological Status of The First Law (Barseghyan-2015) | Descriptive | Is the first law suggested by Barseghyan in 2015 a tautology? | 2016 |
| Tautological Status of The Law of Theory Demarcation (Sarwar-Fraser-2018) | Descriptive | Is the law of theory demarcation as formulated by Sarwar and Fraser in 2018 a tautology? | 2018 |
| The Necessity of Intercommunication for Community | Descriptive | If two independent communities undergo similar changes which result in identical mosaics, are these communities still considered as distinct, or are they a single community? | 2016 |
| The Necessity of Language in Community | Descriptive | Is a shared language, or propositional code, presupposed by the existence of an epistemic community? | 2017 |
| The Status of Holism and Ripple Effect | Descriptive | Is it the case that changes in one of the elements of a mosaic can have a "ripple effect" on the rest of the mosaic? | 2018 |
| Theory Displacement | Descriptive | Is it conceivable that, following the rejection of a method, that any theories which satisfied its requirements also would become rejected, seeing as how the reasons for belief in them no longer hold (in the eyes of the community)? | 2018 |
| Theory vs. Method Compatibility | Descriptive | What is the relationship between the Compatibility Criteria for theories and for methods within the same Mosaic? | 2018 |
| Workflow - Closure Mechanism | Normative | How should verdicts on suggested modifications be achieved? If modifications are accepted as a result of a communal consensus, then what constitutes such a consensus? | 2019 |
| Workflow - Goals of Peer Review | Normative | Should peer reviewers evaluate a submitted paper for the pursuitworthiness or acceptability of the content of the paper? | 2019 |
| Workflow - Handling Ripple Effects | Normative | How should the scientonomic workflow handle the ripple effect of additional minor changes to the body of scientonomic knowledge caused by the acceptance of a certain modification? | 2019 |
| Workflow - Publishing Modification Comments | Normative | Should the discussions concerning a suggested modification be published? If so, when and how should they be published? | 2019 |
| Workflow - Reformulating Suggesting Modifications | Normative | Are the commentators of suggested modifications allowed to suggest reformulations of the original formulations? | 2019 |
