Multiple Authority Delegation

What is multiple authority delegation? How should it be defined?

While in some cases the authority can be delegated to one expert community, in other cases the authority can be delegated to more than one community. Thus the distinction between singular and multiple authority delegations. The question here is how the notion of multiple authority delegation is to be defined.1

In the scientonomic context, this term was first used by Mirka Loiselle in 2017. The term is currently accepted by Scientonomy community.

In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is:

• Epistemic agent A is said to engage in a relationship of multiple authority delegation over question x iff A delegates authority over question x to more than one epistemic agent.

Scientonomic History

Acceptance Record of the Term

Here is the complete acceptance record of this term (it includes all the instances when the term was accepted as a part of a community's taxonomy):

Community	Accepted From	Acceptance Indicators	Still Accepted	Accepted Until	Rejection Indicators
Scientonomy	19 May 2017	The publication of the article by Loiselle titled Multiple Authority Delegation in Art Authentication is a good indication of acceptance of the question.Loiselle (2017)	Yes

All Definitions

The following definitions of multiple authority delegation the term have been suggested:

Theory	Formulation	Formulated In
Multiple Authority Delegation (Loiselle-2017)	Community A is said to engage in a relationship of multiple authority delegation over topic x iff community A delegates authority over topic x to more than one community.	2017
Multiple Authority Delegation (Patton-2019)	Epistemic agent A is said to engage in a relationship of multiple authority delegation over question x iff A delegates authority over question x to more than one epistemic agent.	2019

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Accepted Definitions

The following definitions of multiple authority delegation have been accepted:

Community	Theory	Formulation	Accepted From	Accepted Until
Scientonomy	Multiple Authority Delegation (Loiselle-2017)	Community A is said to engage in a relationship of multiple authority delegation over topic x iff community A delegates authority over topic x to more than one community.	23 October 2018	6 February 2023
Scientonomy	Multiple Authority Delegation (Patton-2019)	Epistemic agent A is said to engage in a relationship of multiple authority delegation over question x iff A delegates authority over question x to more than one epistemic agent.	6 February 2023

Suggested Modifications

Here is a list of modifications concerning the definitions of multiple authority delegation:

Modification	Community	Date Suggested	Summary	Date Assessed	Verdict	Verdict Rationale
Sciento-2017-0007	Scientonomy	19 May 2017	Accept the definitions of the following subtypes of authority delegation: singular authority delegation, multiple authority delegation, hierarchical authority delegation, and non-hierarchical authority delegation.	23 October 2018	Accepted	While the notions of singular and multiple authority delegation didn't cause much controversy, the notions of hierarchical and non-hierarchical authority delegation gave rise to notable disagreement among scientonomists. As a result, the modification was in discussion for about a year and a half.c1 Eventually, a consensus emerged mostly as a result of offline (in-person) discussion meetings. It was agreed that "for decisions that are not rote and routine, it seems highly unlikely that a pre-established hierarchy of authority delegation does or could exist, nor could a pre-established belief that all authorities should be given equal weight".c2 However, it was also agreed that Loiselle's study "have identified at least one aspect of hierarchical authority delegation in epistemic communities",c3 for "there seem to be instances where some experts occupy privileged positions in the eyes of those delegating authority" and that "alone is sufficient to suggest that hierarchies of authority delegation exists, regardless of of how transient or fixed they might be".c4
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 Definition

In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is Multiple Authority Delegation (Patton-2019).

Multiple Authority Delegation (Patton-2019) states: "Epistemic agent A is said to engage in a relationship of multiple authority delegation over question x iff A delegates authority over question x to more than one epistemic agent."

The definition tweaks the original definition of the term by Loiselle to ensure that the relationship of multiple 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.

Ontology

Existence

In Scientonomy, it is currently accepted that "There is such a thing as multiple authority delegation."

Subtypes

In Scientonomy, the accepted subtypes of Multiple Authority Delegation are:

• Hierarchical Authority Delegation
• Non-Hierarchical Authority Delegation

Supertypes

In Scientonomy, the following supertype of Multiple Authority Delegation is currently accepted:

• Authority Delegation

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Dynamics

If a question concerning the dynamics of multiple authority delegation is missing, please add it here.

Related Topics

This term is also related to the following topic(s):

• Authority Delegation
• Singular Authority Delegation