Changes

{{Topic|Question=What is '''Methodmethod''' ? How should it be ''defined''?|Topic Type=Definitional|Description=One of the tasks of scientonomy is to explain how methods change through time. Thus, a set proper definition of ''method'' is in order.|Authors List=Hakob Barseghyan,|Formulated Year=2015|Prehistory=In classical philosophy of science, although theories and methods are closely bound up with one another, theories change but the scientific method does not. According to [[Paul Hoyningen-Huene|Hoyningen-Huene]],[[CiteRef::Hoyningen-Huene (2008)]][[CiteRef::Hoyningen-Huene (2013)]] from the time of the Ancients until the second half of the 20th century science just was characterized by its method. [[Aristotle]] and his medieval successors identified science with absolute certainty guaranteed by axiomatic proof. In the Prior and Posterior Analytics as well as the Organon, Aristotle identified three determinants of scientific method: the aims of discovery/ordering/display of facts gained through passive observation, the nature of the knowledge pursued as well as the explanatory causes of that kind of knowledge, and a logical system to aid the proper arrangement of and inferences from observation.[[CiteRef::Andersen and Hepburn (2015)]] In the West, these ideas were perpetuated and refined by medieval thinkers like [[Albertus Magnus]], [[Thomas Aquinas]], [[Robert Grosseteste]], [[Roger Bacon]], [[William of Ockham]], [[Andreas Vesalius]], and [[Giacomo Zabarella]]. They developed accounts of the acquisition of criteria knowledge through observation and induction and rules for employment the justification and application of induction. Scholars from the East such as [[Al-Kindi]], [[Alhazen]], and [[Averroes]] were more critical of the Ancients. The Scientific Revolution of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries involved serious reflection on the legitimacy of the methods that facilitated the rapid advancements in theory assessmentscientific knowledge at the time. Three different types Thinkers like [[Galileo Galilei]] and [[Francis Bacon]] emphasized mathematical description and mechanical explanation as important constituents of criteria have been identified so fara disinterested method. [[Isaac Newton]]’s Opticks (1704)[[CiteRef::Newton (1704)]] and Principia Mathematica (1726)[[CiteRef:: criteria Newton (1999)]] also excluded non-epistemic values and subjectivity from scientific practice through his implicit method of demarcationexperiments and reasoning and his explicit methodological rules. Subsequent thinkers clarified and reinforced Newton’s approach, criteria including [[Colin Maclaurin]], [[Denis Diderot]], and [[Francesco Algarotti]]. However, some criticized the self-effacement of the scientist and inductivism. These thinkers include the likes of [[George Berkeley]] (1734),[[CiteRef::Berkeley (1992)]] who challenged the Newtonian image of acceptancescience, and criteria [[David Hume]]’s attack on induction (1739).[[CiteRef::Hume (2000)]] A search for new foundations to undergird the empirical method ensued in response to these critics. The most notable example is [[Immanuel Kant]]’s (1781) reply to Hume in the Critique of compatibilityPure Reason.[[CiteRef::Kant (1781)]] Kant’s contributions generated additional debates on science and methods. In centre stage during the 19th century was [[John S. Mill]]’s inductivism versus [[William Whewell]]’s hypothetico-deductivism. For both thinkers, theory acceptance and method employment remained closely bound up.

But philosophers like Larry Laudan rejected the notion that change in science occurs all at once. Instead, he proposed that theories and methodologies can change at different times. Contemporary studies attempt to reconcile sociological and rationalist accounts of scientific knowledge and method to understand how methods change, especially in relation to theory acceptance.|History=The original definition of the term was proposed by Barseghyan in 2015.[[CiteRef::Barseghyan (2015)]]|Related Topics= Current View =Theory, Scientific Mosaic|Page Status=Needs Editing}}{{Acceptance Record|Community=Community:Scientonomy|Accepted From Era= Open Questions CE|Accepted From Year=2016|Accepted From Month= January • Question |Accepted From Day=1|Accepted From Approximate=No• Question 2 == Related Articles |Acceptance Indicators==  That's when the first scientonomic definition of the term, [[Scientific Mosaic]] [[Theory]] [[The Third LawMethod (Barseghyan-2015)]], became accepted, which is a indication that the topic itself is considered legitimate.|Still Accepted=Yes|Accepted Until Approximate== Notes ==No<references />}}