Subdiscipline

What is subdiscipline? How should it be defined?

Many scientific disciplines are subdisciplines of other disciplines. For instance, evolutionary biology is a subdiscipline of biology, epistemology is a subdiscipline of philosophy, and so on. It is important therefore to have a definition of subdiscipline.

In the scientonomic context, this term was first used by Paul Patton and Cyrus Al-Zayadi in 2021. The term is currently accepted by Scientonomy community.

In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is:

• A discipline A is a subdiscipline of another discipline B, iff the set of questions of A, Q_A, is a proper subset of the questions of B, Q_B, i.e. Q_A ⸦ Q_B.

Scientonomic History

Acceptance Record of the Term

Here is the complete acceptance record of this term (it includes all the instances when the term was accepted as a part of a community's taxonomy):

Community	Accepted From	Acceptance Indicators	Still Accepted	Accepted Until	Rejection Indicators
Scientonomy	1 August 2021	This is when Patton and Al-Zayadi's Disciplines in the Scientonomic Ontology that offered a definition of the term was published. This is a good indication that the question of how the term is to be defined is considered legitimate by the community.	Yes

All Definitions

The following definitions of subdiscipline the term have been suggested:

Theory	Formulation	Formulated In
Subdiscipline (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021)	A discipline A is a subdiscipline of another discipline B, iff the set of questions of A, QA, is a proper subset of the questions of B, QB, i.e. QA ⸦ QB.	2021

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Accepted Definitions

The following definitions of subdiscipline have been accepted:

Community	Theory	Formulation	Accepted From	Accepted Until
Scientonomy	Subdiscipline (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021)	A discipline A is a subdiscipline of another discipline B, iff the set of questions of A, QA, is a proper subset of the questions of B, QB, i.e. QA ⸦ QB.	21 February 2024

Suggested Modifications

Here is a list of modifications concerning the definitions of subdiscipline:

Modification	Community	Date Suggested	Summary	Date Assessed	Verdict	Verdict Rationale
Sciento-2021-0006	Scientonomy	1 August 2021	Accept new definitions of subquestion, core question, core theory, discipline, delineating theory, subdiscipline, and discipline acceptance.	21 February 2024	Accepted	Prior to the 2024 workshop, Hakob Barseghyan commented on the encyclopedia indicating his support for accepting this modification and noted its potential to underpin further work on discipline dynamics. In fact, a significant amount of observational scientonomy work has been carried out in the past few years (including the paper on the rejection of alchemy by Friesen and Patton (2023),1 as well as some more recent papers) that presupposes the acceptance of these definitions, despite the fact that the modification containing them formally remains open. There was very little discussion about the modification, beyond raising points for the community to look forward to in the future, like a brief discussion between Jamie Shaw and Paul Patton about the need for more research on the difference between disciplines and disciplinary communities. The modification was accepted unanimously with 18 votes.

Current Definition

In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is Subdiscipline (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021).

Subdiscipline (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021) states: "A discipline A is a subdiscipline of another discipline B, iff the set of questions of A, Q_A, is a proper subset of the questions of B, Q_B, i.e. Q_A ⸦ Q_B."

A more specialized discipline A is a subdiscipline of another, more general discipline B, if and only if the set of questions Q_A of A is a proper subset of the questions Q_Bof B 2. For example, cellular neurobiology, the discipline which deals with the cellular properties of nerve cells, is a subdiscipline of neuroscience, which deals with the properties and functions of nervous systems.

The scientific mosaic consists of theories and questions.3456 As a whole, a discipline A consists of a set of accepted questions Q_A and the theories which provide answers to those questions, or which those questions presuppose.2 Questions form hierarchies, with more specific questions being subquestions of more general questions. Theories find a place in these heirarchies, since each theory is an attempt to answer a certain question, and each question presupposes certain theories. It is sometimes the case that the questions Q_Bof a broader discipline B can include all of the questions, Q_A, of A as subquestions, with the questions of A, formimg a proper subset of the questions of B. In this situation, A is then said to be a subdiscipline of B.

Ontology

Existence

In Scientonomy, it is currently accepted that "There is such a thing as a subdiscipline."

Subtypes

In Scientonomy, there are currently no accepted subtypes of Subdiscipline.

Supertypes

In Scientonomy, there are currently no accepted supertypes of Subdiscipline.

Associations

In Scientonomy, there are currently no accepted associations of Subdiscipline.

Disjointness

In Scientonomy, no classes are currently accepted as disjoint with Subdiscipline.

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Dynamics

If a question concerning the dynamics of a subdiscipline is missing, please add it here.

Related Topics

This term is also related to the following topic(s):

• Discipline