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Necessary Method theorem (Barseghyan-2015) (view source)
Revision as of 19:02, 23 November 2023
, 19:02, 23 November 2023no edit summary
{{Theory
|Topic=Necessary Methods
|Theory Type=Descriptive
|Subject=
|Predicate=
|Title=Necessary Method theorem
|Theory TypeAlternate Titles=|Title Formula=|Text Formula=Descriptive
|Formulation Text=In order for the process of scientific change to be possible, the mosaic must necessarily contain at least one employed method.
|Formulation FileObject=Necessary-method-theorem-box-only.jpg|Topic=Necessary Methods
|Authors List=Hakob Barseghyan,
|Formulated Year=2015
|Formulation File=Necessary-method-theorem-box-only.jpg|Description=According to the [[Non-Empty Mosaic theorem (Barseghyan-2015)|non-empty mosaic theorem]], there must be at least one element present in a mosaic. By [[The Second Law|the second law]], a theory can only Necessary Method theorem specifies that this element must be accepted into a mosaic if there is a method the community can use to appraise the theory. By [[The Third Law|the third law]], methods become employed when they are deductive consequences of accepted theories. Thus, in any mosaicThat is, there must exist at least "one method with which is a community can appraise new theoriesmust for the whole enterprise of scientific change to take off the ground".[[CiteRef::Barseghyan (2015)|ppp. 228-233]] {{PrintDiagramFile|diagram file=Necessary-method-theorem.jpg}} To better illustrate this example, we can imagine a community with a set of accepted propositions. Community φ accepts proposition α. For α to have become accepted, through the second law, we know that φ must have had implicit expectations which α satisfied. No matter what those expectations are, if the community had not harbored those expectations there could be no acceptance. Similarly, if we have a community φ which experiences a change of expectations (i.e. a change of method), it is deductively true that φ already had a set of expectations which could be referred to as a method.
|Resource=Barseghyan (2015)
|Prehistory=Insofar as necessary methods go, the philosophy of science was initially not very concerned with this subject. Philosophers like the logical positivists, [[Karl Popper]], and all those up until [[Thomas Kuhn]] held the general tacit belief that there was a singular method of science and that all scientific communities would abide by it. This method was inherently necessary because science was exclusively a function of it; to believe otherwise would imply irrationality in science. For example, with Popper, theories were accepted on a basis of falsification and corroborated content.[[CiteRef::Popper (1963)]] During this time, anything accepted without a method of acceptance was simply unscientific.
Like Kuhn, Lakatos believed there were several paradigms in scientific communities throughout history. Unlike Kuhn, Lakatos stipulated theories must be assessed holistically and with a singular method. Additionally, he posited there were many research programmes which were at war with each other instead of just a single paradigm. Theories were judged to be regressive or progressive via a fitting criterion which we can interpret as Lakatos’ method.[[CiteRef::Lakatos (1970)|pp. 31-34]] Once again, we see the acceptance of the necessity of methods within the community of the philosophy of science.
Generally, it is not until the likes of [[Paul Feyerabend]] at which point the necessity of methods is rejected. However, very few philosophers of science to this day hold this view.
|History=|Page Status=Needs EditingEditor Approved|Editor Notes=}}{{Theory Example|Title=Hypothetical Community|Description=To better illustrate this theorem, we can imagine a community with a set of accepted propositions. Community φ accepts proposition α. For α to have become accepted, through the second law, we know that φ must have had implicit expectations which α satisfied. No matter what those expectations are, if the community had not harbored those expectations there could be no acceptance. Similarly, if we have a community φ which experiences a change of expectations (i.e. a change of method), it is deductively true that φ already had a set of expectations which could be referred to as a method.|Example Type=Hypothetical
}}
{{Acceptance Record
|Acceptance Indicators=The theorem became ''de facto'' accepted by the community at that time together with the whole [[The Theory of Scientific Change|theory of scientific change]].
|Still Accepted=Yes
|Accepted Until Era=
|Accepted Until Year=
|Accepted Until Month=
|Accepted Until Day=
|Accepted Until Approximate=No
|Rejection Indicators=
}}
