Local Epistemic Action (Allen-2023)

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This is a definition of Local Epistemic Action that states "An epistemic action that is not available trans-historically to all epistemic agents, but is specific to some time periods or some agents."

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This definition of Local Epistemic Action was formulated by Joshua Allen in 2023.1 It is currently accepted by Scientonomy community as the best available definition of the term.

Scientonomic History

Acceptance Record

Here is the complete acceptance record of this definition:
CommunityAccepted FromAcceptance IndicatorsStill AcceptedAccepted UntilRejection Indicators
Scientonomy23 February 2024The definition became accepted as a result of the acceptance of the respective modification.Yes

Suggestions To Accept

Here are all the modifications where the acceptance of this definition has been suggested:

Modification Community Date Suggested Summary Date Assessed Verdict Verdict Rationale
Sciento-2023-0006 Scientonomy 31 December 2023 Accept that epistemic actions can be local or global. Also accept the definition of global epistemic action as an epistemic action that is available to all epistemic agents trans-historically and universally and the definition of local epistemic action as an epistemic action that is not available trans-historically to all epistemic agents, but is specific to some time periods or some agents. 23 February 2024 Accepted The modification was discussed during the 2024 workshop. Rebecca Muscant and Jamie Shaw wondered if the modification implied that there is such a thing as a global epistemic action. Hakob Barseghyan clarified that, according to what we accept as a community, there must be some global epistemic actions in order for the process of scientific change to occur at all; for instance, it is inconceivable for scientific change to occur without the possibility of theory acceptance. More specific actions, on the other hand, like pursuing a theory, could be considered local. Shaw noted that one could conceive of an agent that uses and pursues theories without accepting any due to socio-cultural barriers. Barseghyan and Allen responded to Shaw, arguing that even if it turns out that accepting a theory is not a global epistemic action, the epistemic action of taking a stance seems to be global. Paul Patton suggested that more work is needed to discern different subtypes of epistemic actions, such as actions with epistemic elements vs. socio-technical actions (e.g. experimenting). The participants generally agreed on the need to conduct future studies before claims could be made about subtypes of epistemic actions or the global/local status of specific epistemic actions. With these clarifications in mind, the modification was accepted unanimously with 16 votes.

Question Answered

Local Epistemic Action (Allen-2023) is an attempt to answer the following question: What is local epistemic action? How should it be defined?

See Local Epistemic Action for more details.

Description

Allen suggests that local actions are the ones that are not universally available but are specific to a time period and/or an agent. For example "such epistemic actions as simulating, experimenting, or modelling seem to be local actions since they need not necessarily be part of the repertoire of epistemic actions of all conceivable epistemic agents; such local actions emerge at a certain time and become available to some but not all epistemic agents".1p. 79

Reasons

No reasons are indicated for this definition.

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Questions About This Definition

There are no higher-order questions concerning this definition.

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References

  1. a b  Allen, Joshua. (2023) Epistemic Actions: A Scientonomic Framework. Scientonomy 5, 73-91. Retrieved from https://scientojournal.com/index.php/scientonomy/article/view/42266.