Changes

|Preamble=Tools and instruments, from a thermometer or a ruler to the Large Hadron Collider or the Hubble Space Telescope clearly play a central role in the process of [[Scientific Change|scientific change]]. [[CiteRef::Patton (2019)]] However, the role of tools and instruments within scientonomy has not been defined. Existing roles available within scientonomic theory do not seem appropriate. It does not seem plausible, for example, to treat tools and instruments as subjects of [[Authority Delegation|authority delegation]]. This is because the scientific data produced with some kinds of epistemic tools is itself a kind of [[Theory|theory]], and therefore requires [[The Second Law|assessment ]] under the [[Method|employed method ]] of the time. A tool or instrument is not capable of assessing its own data under the employed method, since that would require cognitive abilities, such as the ability to semantically understand propositions, which are still beyond the bounds of current artificial intelligence. Such an assessment requires an [[Epistemic Agent|epistemic agent]] intimately familiar with theories specifying the conditions under which the tool is a reliable source of knowledge. [[CiteRef::Patton (2019)]] A new role for tools and instruments within scientonomy thus needs to be defined. The new role posited here has to do with the role of epistemic tools in the concrete requirements of the employed method of an epistemic agent.