Scope of Scientonomy
What types of phenomena should a scientonomic theory account for?
It is important for any science to have a clear idea as to what phenomena it ought to be explaining. This question is normative, as its answers are necessarily prescriptions of what the scope of scientonomy ought to be. As such, this question is not to be confused with the descriptive question of the scope of this or that specific scientonomic theory. Questions about the scope of scientonomy include:
- Should a scientonomic theory be normative or descriptive?
- Should it deal with the process of theory construction or the process of theory assessment or both?
- Changes in which stances should it trace and explain: should it explain theory acceptance, use, pursuit, or any combination of these?
- Should it explain changes in the belief systems of individual scientists or should it focus on scientific communities?
- Should it explain transitions in implicit rules of theory assessment actually employed by scientists, or should it explain changes in explicitly formulated rules?
- Changes at what time periods and in what fields of science should it explain?
In the scientonomic context, this question was first formulated by Hakob Barseghyan in 2015. The question is currently accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by Scientonomy community. Scope of Scientonomy (Barseghyan-2015) is currently accepted by Scientonomy community as the best available answer to the question. It is formulated as: "Scientonomy ought to explain changes in a scientific mosaic, including changes from one accepted theory to the next and one employed method to the next."
Contents
Scientonomic History
Acceptance Record
| Community | Accepted From | Acceptance Indicators | Still Accepted | Accepted Until | Rejection Indicators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientonomy | 1 January 2016 | This is when the community accepted its first answer to this question, Scope of Scientonomy (Barseghyan-2015), which indicates that the question itself is legitimate. | Yes |
All Theories
| Theory | Formulation | Formulated In |
|---|---|---|
| Scope of Scientonomy (Barseghyan-2015) | Scientonomy ought to explain changes in a scientific mosaic, including changes from one accepted theory to the next and one employed method to the next. | 2015 |
If an answer to this question is missing, please click here to add it.
Accepted Theories
| Community | Theory | Accepted From | Accepted Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scientonomy | Scope of Scientonomy (Barseghyan-2015) | 1 January 2016 |
Suggested Modifications
Current View
In Scientonomy, the accepted answer to the question is Scope of Scientonomy (Barseghyan-2015).
Scope of Scientonomy (Barseghyan-2015) states: "Scientonomy ought to explain changes in a scientific mosaic, including changes from one accepted theory to the next and one employed method to the next." According to Barseghyan's initial stipulation, a scientonomic theory should:
- be a descriptive theory that explain changes in a scientific mosaic and not to prescribe any methods of theory appraisal (i.e. it should not be confused with normative methodologies);
- explain how theories become accepted as opposed to explaining how theories are constructed (generated), what makes them useful or pursuit-worthy.
- focus on changes at the community level and not those in individual belief systems (although an actual TSC may turn out to be applicable to changes at the individual level);
- account for each and every change in a mosaic, regardless of its time period, scientific field, or scale.
Related Topics
It has the following sub-topic(s):
- Scope of Scientonomy - Acceptance Use and Pursuit
- Scope of Scientonomy - Construction and Appraisal
- Scope of Scientonomy - Descriptive and Normative
- Scope of Scientonomy - Explicit and Implicit
- Scope of Scientonomy - Individual and Social
- Scope of Scientonomy - Mosaic Formation
- Scope of Scientonomy - Time Fields and Scale
This topic is also related to the following topic(s):
