The Status of Holism and Ripple Effect
There appear to be cases where a change in the definition of a certain concept may have a ripple effect on other accepted theories; do these "ripple" changes exhibit the same patterns as other instances of theory change?
As an element undergoes modification, it seems that respectively dependent elements should undergo change too. The extent and consequences of this holism have yet to be considered in scientonomy. Our concern is the role of this ripple effect in scientific change and whether or not it warrants change in our current conceptions. Furthermore, these changes are largely dependent on our theory of meaning and whether we interpret it as sense or reference. For example, suppose a community accepts a theory T1 which describes the set of planets as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and theory P holds that all planets revolve in ellipses. Now suppose a theory T2, describing the set of planets as that of T1 and also including Neptune, replaces T1. While it is clear that theory T has undergone a scientific change, can the same be said of theory P? Would considering the change in reference of theory P to be a scientific change as described by the Theory Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-2015) be a violation of the laws of scientific change?
In the scientonomic context, this question was first formulated by Hakob Barseghyan, Paul Patton, Calahan Janik-Jones and Liron Cohen in 2018. The question is currently accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by Scientonomy community.
Contents
Scientonomic History
Acceptance Record
Community | Accepted From | Acceptance Indicators | Still Accepted | Accepted Until | Rejection Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scientonomy | 15 February 2018 | It was acknowledged as an open question by the Scientonomy Seminar 2018. | Yes |
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This question is a subquestion of Mechanism of Theory Acceptance.
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