Discipline
What is discipline? How should it be defined?
Most epistemic agents classify knowledge into disciplines; e.g. disciplines are a ubiquitous feature of modern science. Thus, having a definition of discipline is an important first step in understanding the role of disciplines in the process of scientific change.
In the scientonomic context, this term was first used by Hakob Barseghyan in 2016. The term is currently accepted by Scientonomy community.
In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is:
- A discipline is characterized by (1) a non-empty set of core questions Q and (2) the delineating theory stating that Q are the core questions of the discipline.
Contents
Scientonomic History
Acceptance Record
Community | Accepted From | Acceptance Indicators | Still Accepted | Accepted Until | Rejection Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scientonomy | 1 April 2016 | It was acknowledged as an open question by the Scientonomy Seminar 2016. | Yes |
All Theories
Theory | Formulation | Formulated In |
---|---|---|
Discipline (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021) | A discipline is characterized by (1) a non-empty set of core questions Q and (2) the delineating theory stating that Q are the core questions of the discipline. | 2021 |
If an answer to this question is missing, please click here to add it.
Accepted Theories
Community | Theory | Accepted From | Accepted Until |
---|---|---|---|
Scientonomy | Discipline (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021) | 21 February 2024 |
Suggested Modifications
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 View
In Scientonomy, the accepted definition of the term is Discipline (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021).
Discipline (Patton-Al-Zayadi-2021) states: "A discipline is characterized by (1) a non-empty set of core questions Q and (2) the delineating theory stating that Q are the core questions of the discipline."
According to this definition, a discipline is characterized by a non-empty set of core questions and a delineating theory identifying these questions as the core questions of the discipline.2 Questions form hierarchies, with more specific questions being subquestions of more general questions. Theories find a place in these hierarchies, since each theory is an attempt to answer a certain question, and each question presupposes certain theories. Because of such hierarchical relations, it is possible to characterize a discipline by identifying a set of core questions. These core questions are judged by some agent to be related to one another, essential to a discipline, and definitive of its boundaries. This is stated in a discipline's delineating theory - a second-order theory that identifies the core questions of the discipline. The other questions of a discipline are the accepted subquestions of its core questions.
Related Topics
This topic is also related to the following topic(s):
References
- ^ Friesen, Izzy and Patton, Paul. (2023) Discipline Dynamics of Chymistry and Rejection of Alchemy. Scientonomy 5, 93-110. Retrieved from https://scientojournal.com/index.php/scientonomy/article/view/42268.
- ^ Patton, Paul and Al-Zayadi, Cyrus. (2021) Disciplines in the Scientonomic Ontology. Scientonomy 4, 59-85. Retrieved from https://scientojournal.com/index.php/scientonomy/article/view/37123.