Theory Acceptance (Fraser-Sarwar-2018)
This is a definition of Theory Acceptance that states "An accepted theory is a scientific theory that is taken as the best available description or prescription of its object."
This definition of Theory Acceptance was formulated by Patrick Fraser and Ameer Sarwar in 2018.1
Scientonomic History
Acceptance Record
Suggestions To Accept
Here are all the modifications where the acceptance of this definition has been suggested:
Modification | Community | Date Suggested | Summary | Verdict | Verdict Rationale | Date Assessed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sciento-2018-0019 | Scientonomy | 28 December 2018 | Accept the new definition of theory acceptance which makes explicit that accepted theories are a subset of scientific theories. | Open |
Question Answered
Theory Acceptance (Fraser-Sarwar-2018) is an attempt to answer the following question: What does it mean to say that a theory is accepted? How should theory acceptance be defined?
See Theory Acceptance for more details.
Description
This definition of theory acceptance makes explicit that any accepted theory is a scientific theory. This is because the question of whether some theory is accepted is meaningless without it being scientific, i.e., no scientist would ask whether they should accept a theory without believing, if only implicitly, that the contender theory is indeed scientific. Since only scientific theories have the potential to become accepted, and because only some of these do in fact become accepted, it follows that all of the accepted theories are scientific. To be clear, the scientific status of the theory depends on the demarcation criteria of the time, and its acceptability depends on the acceptance criteria. The definition of theory acceptance presupposes that these processes have already taken place. As such, it defines theory acceptance as those scientific theories that provide the best descriptions or prescriptions of their object of study from the prespective of the relevant epistemic community.
Reasons
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Questions About This Definition
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References
- ^ Fraser, Patrick and Sarwar, Ameer. (2018) A Compatibility Law and the Classification of Theory Change. Scientonomy 2, 67-82. Retrieved from https://scientojournal.com/index.php/scientonomy/article/view/31278.