Mechanism of Normative Theory Rejection

How do normative theories become rejected? What is the mechanism of normative theory rejection?

Rejection of norms is an essential part of scientific change. Thus, explaining how norms become rejected is an important for a scientonomic theory.

In the scientonomic context, this question was first formulated by Aayu Pandey in 2023. The question is currently accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by Scientonomy community.

In Scientonomy, the accepted answer to the question is:

• A norm becomes rejected when other elements that are incompatible with the norm become part of the mosaic.

Scientonomic History

Acceptance Record of the Question

Here is the complete acceptance record of this question (it includes all the instances when the question was accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by a community):

Community	Accepted From	Acceptance Indicators	Still Accepted	Accepted Until	Rejection Indicators
Scientonomy	28 December 2023	This is when Pandey's paper suggesting the first direct answer to the question was published, which is an indicator that the question itself is accepted.	Yes

All Direct Answers

The following direct answers to the question have been suggested:

Theory	Formulation	Formulated In
Norm Rejection theorem (Pandey-2023)	A norm becomes rejected when other elements that are incompatible with the norm become part of the mosaic.	2023

If a direct answer to this question is missing, please click here to add it.

Accepted Direct Answers

The following theories have been accepted as direct answers to this question:

Community	Theory	Formulation	Accepted From	Accepted Until
Scientonomy	Norm Rejection theorem (Pandey-2023)	A norm becomes rejected when other elements that are incompatible with the norm become part of the mosaic.	22 February 2024

Suggested Modifications

Here is a list of modifications concerning direct answers to this question:

Modification	Community	Date Suggested	Summary	Date Assessed	Verdict	Verdict Rationale
Sciento-2023-0002	Scientonomy	28 December 2023	Accept new formulations of the first law for theories, norms, and questions that are in tune with the formulation of the first law. Also accept new formulations of the respective rejection theorems - theory rejection, norm rejection, and question rejection.	22 January 2024	Accepted	During the 2024 workshop, the bulk of the discussion centered around the inclusion of the first law for norms and norm rejection theorem in the set of formulations to be accepted. Paul Patton contended that norm employment in general had not been demonstrated to be lawful beyond method employment, and our basic formulations should instead concern norm acceptance, which is patently lawful. He argued that the formulations should be modified to pertain either to methods only or to norm acceptance. It was decided that if the community were to remain uncomfortable with accepting Pandey’s new formulations, a revote would likely also need to be taken on Rawleigh’s Sciento-2022-0002, given that the issue of norm employment was also highlighted in discussions of that modification. After extensive discussion, Barseghyan suggested that the first law for norms would only apply to situations where behavior was norm-guided to begin with, which would skirt the difficulty that faces even behavioural psychologists of determining whether human behaviour in general is lawful. The majority of the community was comfortable with this workaround, and the modification was ultimately accepted with over 2/3rds majority assenting, with 11/14 votes to accept (although 1 voter voted to reject the modification and 2 voted to keep it open).

Current View

In Scientonomy, the accepted answer to the question is Norm Rejection theorem (Pandey-2023).

Norm Rejection theorem (Pandey-2023) states: "A norm becomes rejected when other elements that are incompatible with the norm become part of the mosaic."

The previous scientonomic account of transitions from the stance of employment to that of unemployment applied exclusively to methods. With Rawleigh's suggestion to expand the third law from applying to methods only to norms of all types, it became important to also have a theorem describing how norms of all types become rejected. Pandey's formulation fills this gap and stipulates that norms become unemployed when they are incompatible with other elements that enter into the mosaic.

Related Topics

This question is a subquestion of Mechanism of Scientific Change and Mechanism of Theory Rejection. It has the following sub-topic(s):

• Mechanism of Method Rejection