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Accept that epistemic actions can be local or global. Also accept the definition of global epistemic action as an epistemic action that is available to all epistemic agents trans-historically and universally and the definition of local epistemic action as an epistemic action that is not available trans-historically to all epistemic agents, but is specific to some time periods or some agents.

The modification was suggested to Scientonomy community by Joshua Allen on 31 December 2023.1 The modification was accepted on 23 February 2024.

Preamble

When considering various epistemic actions, it becomes clear that only a few of these can be said to be global actions while others are merely local. For instance, taking a stance of acceptance (i.e., accepting) seems to be a global action, as without this epistemic action no process of scientific change seems possible. In contrast, such epistemic actions as simulating, experimenting, or modelling seem to be local actions since they need not necessarily be part of the repertoire of epistemic actions of all conceivable epistemic agents; such local actions emerge at a certain time and become available to some but not all epistemic agents.

Modification

Theories To Accept

Questions Answered

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

Verdict

The modification was accepted on 23 February 2024. The modification was discussed during the 2024 workshop. Rebecca Muscant and Jamie Shaw wondered if the modification implied that there is such a thing as a global epistemic action. Hakob Barseghyan clarified that, according to what we accept as a community, there must be some global epistemic actions in order for the process of scientific change to occur at all; for instance, it is inconceivable for scientific change to occur without the possibility of theory acceptance. More specific actions, on the other hand, like pursuing a theory, could be considered local. Shaw noted that one could conceive of an agent that uses and pursues theories without accepting any due to socio-cultural barriers. Barseghyan and Allen responded to Shaw, arguing that even if it turns out that accepting a theory is not a global epistemic action, the epistemic action of taking a stance seems to be global. Paul Patton suggested that more work is needed to discern different subtypes of epistemic actions, such as actions with epistemic elements vs. socio-technical actions (e.g. experimenting). The participants generally agreed on the need to conduct future studies before claims could be made about subtypes of epistemic actions or the global/local status of specific epistemic actions. With these clarifications in mind, the modification was accepted unanimously with 16 votes.

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References

  1. ^  Allen, Joshua. (2023) Epistemic Actions: A Scientonomic Framework. Scientonomy 5, 73-91. Retrieved from https://scientojournal.com/index.php/scientonomy/article/view/42266.