Shaw and Donhauser (2022)

Shaw, Jamie and Donhauser, Justin. (2022) Historical Advances in Ecology. In Barseghyan et al. (Eds.) (2022), 223-247.

Title	Historical Advances in Ecology
Resource Type	collection article
Author(s)	Jamie Shaw, Justin Donhauser
Year	2022
Collection	Barseghyan et al. (Eds.) (2022)
Pages	223-247

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to show that historical advances in theoretical ecology do not conform to the conventional scientonomic ontology. As a result, we suggest some revisions of that ontology. We claim that three famous episodes, including the development of three kinds of models (Lotka-Volterra models, broken stick models, and exergy models), demonstrate the need for a few modifications. Specifically, they highlight the need to refine the scientonomic category of use into two distinct kinds: epistemic use and practical use. Moreover, we suggest introducing the notion of abstract theory. We go on to argue that these historical findings support the recent changes in the definition of acceptance.