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|Question=Is the theory of scientific change applicable to theories construed as sets of models, or in ways that reject their purely formal characterization?
|Topic Type=Descriptive
|Description=The theory of scientific change currently defines theories as sets of descriptive or normative propositions. This definition is most closely aligned with the syntactical view of theories promulgated by logical empiricism empiricists early in the twentieth century. [[CiteRef::Winther (2016)]]. Two other competing views of the nature of scientific theories have since been proposed. The semantic view of theories holds that they should be seen as sets of models, as models were defined by Alfred Tarski. The pragmatic view rejects a purely formal characterization of theories and holds them to include sentences, models, problems, examples, skills, practices, analogies, and metaphors, some of which necessarily resist formalization. [[CiteRef::Winther (2016)]][[CiteRef::Morrman Mormann (2008)]] Is the theory of scientific change compatible with these more recent and broader views of theories?
|Parent Topic=Mechanism of Theory Acceptance
|Formulated Year=2017
|Academic Events=Scientonomy Seminar 2017,
|Prehistory=In modern times philosophers have held varied views about how best to express the structure and content of scientific theories and about whether or not they are wholly reducible to sets of propositions. [[CiteRef::Winther (2016)]] A more complete discussion may be found in the definitional topic, [[Theory]].
|History=Scientonomy has, so far, accepted a definition of theories based the ability to state them as lists of propositions. In the original view of theories, proposed by Hakob Barseghyan in 2015, a theory was defined as a set of propositions that attempt to describe something. In early 2017 it was replaced by a definition proposed by Sebastian in 2016, which modified the definition to include both descriptive and normative propositions.
|Current View=The currently accepted definition of 'theory' accepts that all theories may be expressed as sets of propositions.
|Related Topics=Descriptive Theory, Normative Theory,
}}
{{Acceptance Record
|Community=Community:Scientonomy
|Accepted From Era=CE
|Accepted From Year=2017
|Accepted From Month=March
|Accepted From Day=10
|Accepted From Approximate=No
|Acceptance Indicators=The topic was discussed at the scientonomy seminar, and identifies as an open question.
|Still Accepted=Yes
|Accepted Until Approximate=No
}}
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