Modification:Sciento-2023-0003

Accept that the first law and its corollaries are tautologies. Also accept that the rejection theorems are tautologies.

The modification was suggested to Scientonomy community by Aayu Pandey on 28 December 2023.1 This modification presupposes the acceptance of Sciento-2024-0001. The modification is currently being evaluated; a verdict is pending.

Preamble

There are a number of scenarios of theory replacement allowed by the first law, such as the replacement by negation, the replacement by an answer to a different question, the replacement that involves the rejection of the question, and the replacement by a higher-order proposition. The only scenario that the first law forbids is that of the rejection without any replacement whatsoever, as in the cases of element decay. The very existence of the phenomenon of element decay, therefore, poses a problem for the first law: if element decay is forbidden by the first law, then does this imply that the first law has been falsified? This brought us to our dilemma: either (1) exclude the cases of rejection without replacement from the scope of scientonomy and admit that the first law is a tautology or (2) include the cases of rejection without replacement into the scope of scientonomy and admit that such cases present a serious anomaly for the first law.

The suggestion is to opt for the first option, as it seems the lesser of two evils. One consideration in support of this option, is that the procedure of limiting the scope is ubiquitous in many other fields of inquiry; thus, there is nothing inherently vicious in excluding certain non-epistemic phenomena (such as element decay) from the scope of our discipline. Also, a parallel can be drawn between the scientonomic first law and Newton’s first law: while the latter too has been considered tautological, not many have thought that it is necessarily a serious problem. Thus, the tautological nature of our first law is not inevitably problematic.

Modification

Theories To Accept

• The First Law (Barseghyan-2015) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The first law suggested by Barseghyan in 2015 is tautological.
• The First Law for Methods (Barseghyan-2015) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The first law for methods suggested by Barseghyan in 2015 is tautological.
• The First Law for Theories (Barseghyan-2015) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The first law for theories suggested by Barseghyan in 2015 is tautological.
• The First Law for Norms (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The first law for norms suggested by Barseghyan and Pandey in 2023 is tautological.
• The First Law for Questions (Barseghyan-Levesley-2021) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The first law for questions suggested by Barseghyan and Pandey in 2023 is tautological.
• The First Law for Theories (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The first law for theories suggested by Barseghyan and Pandey in 2023 is tautological.
• Question Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-Levesley-2021) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The question rejection theorem suggested by Barseghyan and Levesley in 2021 is tautological.
• Theory Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-2015) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The theory rejection theorem suggested by Barseghyan in 2015 is tautological.
• Method Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-2015) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The method rejection theorem suggested by Barseghyan in 2015 is tautological.
• Norm Rejection theorem (Pandey-2023) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The norm rejection theorem suggested by Pandey in 2023 is tautological.
• Theory Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The theory rejection theorem suggested by Barseghyan and Pandey in 2023 is tautological.
• Question Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-Levesley-Pandey-2023) is Tautological (Pandey-2023): The question rejection theorem suggested by Barseghyan, Levesley, and Pandey in 2023 is tautological.

Questions Answered

This modification attempts to answer the following question(s):

• Tautological Status of The First Law (Barseghyan-2015): Is the first law suggested by Barseghyan in 2015 a tautology?
• Tautological Status of The First Law for Methods (Barseghyan-2015): Is the first law for methods suggested by Barseghyan in 2015 a tautology?
• Tautological Status of The First Law for Theories (Barseghyan-2015): Is the first law for theories suggested by Barseghyan in 2015 a tautology?
• Tautological Status of The First Law for Norms (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023): Is the first law for norms suggested by Barseghyan and Pandey in 2023 a tautology?
• Tautological Status of The First Law for Questions (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023): Is the first law for questions suggested by Barseghyan and Levesley in 2021 a tautology?
• Tautological Status of The First Law for Theories (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023): Is the first law for theories suggested by Barseghyan and Pandey in 2023 a tautology?
• Tautological Status of Theory Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-2015): Is the theory rejection theorem suggested by Barseghyan in 2015 a tautology?
• Tautological Status of Method Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-2015): Is the method rejection theorem suggested by Barseghyan in 2015 a tautology?
• Tautological Status of Question Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-Levesley-2021): Is the question rejection theorem suggested by Barseghyan and Levesley in 2021 a tautology?
• Tautological Status of Norm Rejection theorem (Pandey-2023): Is the norm rejection theorem suggested by Pandey in 2023 a tautology?
• Tautological Status of Theory Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023): Is the theory rejection theorem suggested by Barseghyan and Pandey in 2023 a tautology?
• Tautological Status of Question Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-Levesley-Pandey-2023): Is the question rejection theorem suggested by Barseghyan, Levesley, and Pandey in 2023 a tautology?

Verdict

The modification is currently being evaluated; a verdict is pending.

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