Changes

The suggested ontology helps solve some of the issues permeating the current ontology. First, it builds on [[William Rawleigh|Rawleigh’s]] [[Modification:Sciento-2018-0002|suggestion]] to include [[Question|questions]] as a distinct class of epistemic elements and considers a theory as an attempt to answer a certain question. Second, since ''method'' is defined as a set of criteria for theory evaluation, it is not an independent epistemic element but is a subtype of ''normative theory''. Third, since methods and methodologies of the currently accepted ontology do not differ from the perspective of their propositional content (i.e. both are criteria for theory evaluation), they in fact belong to one and the same class of epistemic elements. I [[Modification:Sciento-2018-0005|suggested]] to reserve the word “method” for this type of epistemic element, and use “methodology” to denote the respective normative discipline. Fourth, it stipulates that methods can be both ''accepted'' and ''employed''. However, it notes that the ability of being employed is not peculiar exclusively to methods, but characterizes [[Normative Theory|normative propositions]] of all kinds, including ethical norms, aesthetic norms, and technological guidelines. Fifth, it introduces [[Definition|''definition'']] as a subtype of theory.

|Modification=

|To Reject=Method Is a Subtype of Epistemic Element (Barseghyan-2015), Theory Acceptance (Sebastien-2016)

|To Accept Questions=Reducibility of Definitions, Role of Definitions in Scientific Change