123
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Necessary Mosaic Split theorem (Barseghyan-2015) (view source)
Revision as of 04:46, 12 March 2017
, 04:46, 12 March 2017no edit summary
|Description=Necessary [[Scientific Mosaic|mosaic]] split is a form of mosaic split that must happen if it is ever the case that two incompatible [[Theory|theories]] both become accepted under the employed [[Method|method]] of the time. Since the theories are incompatible, under the [[The Zeroth Law|zeroth law]], they cannot be accepted into the same mosaic, and a mosaic split must then occur, as a matter of logical necessity. [[CiteRef::Barseghyan (2015)|p. 204-207]]
{{PrintDiagramFile|diagram file=Necessary-mosaic-split.jpg}}
As shown in the figure above, the necessary mosaic split theorem follows as a deductive consequence of the [[The Second Law|second law]] and the zeroth law. Per the zeroth law, two incompatible elements cannot simultaneously remain in a mosaic, and per the second law any theory that satisfies the method of the time (and the assessment of the theory by the method is not inconclusive) is accepted into the mosaic. This creates the apparently contradictory situation where either of the two theories A) must be accepted because it satisfies the employed method and B) must not be accepted because it in not compatible with another accepted theory.
The necessary mosaic split theorem is thus required to escape the contradiction entailed by the acceptance of two or more incompatible theories. In a situation where this sort of contradiction obtains the mosaic is split and distinct communities are formed each of which bears its own mosaic, and each mosaic will include exactly one of the theories being assessed. By the [[The Third Law|third law]], each mosaic will also have a distinct method that precludes the acceptance of the other contender theory.
Two examples are helpful for demonstrating mosaic split, one formal example and one historical example. Suppose we have some community C' with mosaic M' and that this community assesses two theories, T<sub>1</sub> and T<sub><sub>Subscript text</sub>2</sub>, both of which satisfy M'. Let us further suppose that T<sub>1</sub> and T<sub>2</sub> both describe the same object and are incompatible with one another. According to the second law both T<sub>1</sub> and T<sub>2</sub> will be accepted because they both satisfy M', but both cannot simultaneously be accepted by C' due to the zeroth law. The necessary mosaic split theorem says that the result will be a new community C<sub>1</sub> which accepts T<sub>1</sub> and M<sub>1</sub>, which precludes their accepting T<sub>2</sub>. Simultaneously a new community C<sub>2</sub> will emerge which accepts T<sub>2</sub> and the resulting theory M<sub>2</sub>, which precludes their accepting T<sub>1</sub>.
Barseghyan illustrates the necessary mosaic split theorem with the example of the French and English physics communities circa 1730, at which time the French accepted the Cartesian physics and the English accepted the Newtonian physics.[[Barseghyan (2015)|p.203]] These communities would both initially accepted the Aristotelian-medieval physics due to their mutual acceptance of the Aristotelian-medieval mosaic until the start of the eighteenth century[[Barseghyan (2015)|p.210]] but clearly had different mosaics within a few decades. According to the second law both the Cartesian and Newtonian physics must have satisfied the methods of the Aristotelian-medieval mosaic in order to have been accepted, but since both shared the same object and posited radically different ontologies they were incompatible with one another and could not both be accepted, per the second law. The necessary result was that the unified Aristotelian-medieval community split and the resulting French and English communities emerged, each with a distinct mosaic.
|Resource=Barseghyan (2015)
}}
