Mechanism of Method Rejection
When does an employed method become rejected?
In addressing the question of whether methods are static or dynamic, a theory of scientific change must also address the circumstances under which a community would alter their employed method. Furthermore, this question seeks to describe what happens to other elements in the mosaic when a community undergoes such a change.
In the scientonomic context, this question was first formulated by Hakob Barseghyan in 2016. The question is currently accepted as a legitimate topic for discussion by Scientonomy community.
In Scientonomy, the accepted answers to the question can be summarized as follows:
- A theory becomes rejected when other elements that are incompatible with the theory become part of the mosaic.
- A norm becomes rejected when other elements that are incompatible with the norm become part of the mosaic.
- A method becomes rejected only when some of the theories, from which it follows, also become rejected.
Scientonomic History
Acceptance Record
| Community | Accepted From | Acceptance Indicators | Still Accepted | Accepted Until | Rejection Indicators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientonomy | 1 January 2016 | The is when the community accepted its first answer to the question, Method Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-2015), which indicates that the question is itself legitimate. | Yes |
All Theories
| Theory | Formulation | Formulated In |
|---|---|---|
| Method Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-2015) | A method ceases to be employed only when other methods that are incompatible with the method become employed. | 2015 |
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Accepted Theories
| Community | Theory | Accepted From | Accepted Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scientonomy | Method Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-2015) | 1 January 2016 | 22 February 2024 |
Suggested Modifications
Current View
In Scientonomy, the accepted answers to the question are Theory Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023), Norm Rejection theorem (Pandey-2023) and Synchronism of Method Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-2015).
Mechanism of Theory Rejection
Theory Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-Pandey-2023) states: "A theory becomes rejected when other elements that are incompatible with the theory become part of the mosaic."
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According to Pandey's new formulation of the theory rejection theorem, a theory becomes rejected only when other epistemic elements that are incompatible with the theory become accepted. This formulation differs from Barseghyan's original formulation in that it allows a theory to be replaced by an epistemic element of any type, not just by other theories. In other respects, Pandey's formulation is similar to Barseghyan's.
Implicit in both theorems is the idea that each theory is assessed on an "individual basis by its compatibility with the propositions of the newly accepted theory".1p. 168 If it turns out that a previously accepted theory is compatible with the newly accepted theory, it remain in the agent's mosaic.
Although we normally expect a theory to be replaced by another theory in the same "field" of inquiry, Barseghyan and Pandey both agree that this is not necessarily the case. For example, Barseghyan writes, "HSC knows several cases where an accepted theory became rejected simply because it wasn’t compatible with new accepted theories of some other fields".1p. 171 Similarly, Pandey provides several examples of this phenomenon in Dilemma of The First Law.2
Barseghyan summarizes the theory rejection theorem as such:
In short, when the axioms of a theory are replaced by another theory, some of the theorems may nevertheless manage to stay in the mosaic, provided that they are compatible with the newly accepted theory. This is essentially what the theory rejection theorem tells us. Thus, if someday our currently accepted general relativity gets replaced by some new theory, the theories that followed from general relativity, such as the theory of black holes, may nevertheless manage to remain in the mosaic. 1p. 171
Mechanism of Normative Theory Rejection
Norm Rejection theorem (Pandey-2023) states: "A norm becomes rejected when other elements that are incompatible with the norm become part of the mosaic."
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The previous scientonomic account of transitions from the stance of employment to that of unemployment applied exclusively to methods. With Rawleigh's suggestion to expand the third law from applying to methods only to norms of all types, it became important to also have a theorem describing how norms of all types become rejected. Pandey's formulation fills this gap and stipulates that norms become unemployed when they are incompatible with other elements that enter into the mosaic.
Synchronism vs. Asynchronism of Method Rejection
Synchronism of Method Rejection theorem (Barseghyan-2015) states: "A method becomes rejected only when some of the theories, from which it follows, also become rejected."
The principle of this theorem is first introduced in Barseghyan (2015). We recall that "there are two somewhat distinct scenarios of method employment. In the first scenario, a method becomes employed when it strictly follows from newly accepted theories. In the second scenario, a method becomes employed when it implements the abstract requirements of some other employed method by means of other accepted theories. It can be shown that method rejection is only possible in the first scenario; no method can be rejected in the second scenario. Namely, it can be shown that method rejection can only take place when some other method becomes employed by strictly following from a new accepted theory; the employment of a method that is not a result of the acceptance of a new theory and is merely a new implementation of some already employed method cannot possibly lead to a method rejection."1p. 174
As per Barseghyan, it is important to note that "two implementations of the same method are not mutually exclusive and the employment of one doesn’t lead to the rejection of the other".1p. 176 Barseghyan illustrates this nicely with the example of cell-counting methods (see below). Furthermore, he writes, "an employment of a new concrete method cannot possibly lead to a rejection of any other employed method. Indeed, if we take into account the fact that a new concrete method follows deductively from the conjunction of an abstract method and other accepted theories, it will become obvious that this new concrete method cannot possibly be incompatible with any other element of the mosaic. We know from the zeroth law that at any stage the elements of the mosaic are compatible with each other. Therefore, no logical consequence of the mosaic can possibly be incompatible with other elements of the mosaic. But the new method that implemented the abstract method is just one such logical consequence".1p. 176-7
According to the synchronism of method rejection theorem, a method becomes rejected only when some of the theories from which it follows become rejected. By the method rejection theorem, a method is rejected when other methods incompatible with it become employed. By the Third Law, this can happen only when some of the theories from which it follows are also rejected.1p. 177-183
Related Topics
This question is a subquestion of Mechanism of Scientific Change.
It has the following sub-topic(s):
This topic is also related to the following topic(s):
References
- a b c d e f g Barseghyan, Hakob. (2015) The Laws of Scientific Change. Springer.
- ^ Pandey, Aayu. (2023) Dilemma of the First Law. Scientonomy 5, 25-46. Retrieved from https://scientojournal.com/index.php/scientonomy/article/view/42258.