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|Question=What is '''theory'''? How should it be ''defined''?
|Description=Among the major tasks of scientonomy is to explain transitions from one accepted theory to the next. Thus, it is crucial to have a well-defined notion of ''theory''.
|Year Formulated=2015
|Author=Hakob Barseghyan,
|Prehistory=Prehistory here
|History=The original definition of the term was proposed by Barseghyan in 2015. It defined ''theory'' as any set of propositions that attempt to describe something.[[CiteRef::Barseghyan (2015)]]As such, this definition excluded normative propositions. It was eventually replaced by the definition suggested by Sebastien in 2016.|Current View=Currently, '''theory''' is defined as a set of propositions that attempt to describe or prescribe something. Theories can be descriptive (e.g. natural, social, and formal science) or normative (e.g. methodology, ethics, and axiology). Theories can consist of thousands of interconnected propositions or, in an extreme, of one single proposition.[[CiteRef::Sebastien (2016)]]
[[File:Theory_Sebastien_2016_Definition.png|center|390px]]
|Related Topics=Method, Scientific Mosaic
}}
