Scientonomy Seminar 2017
| Title | The fifth annual IHPST seminar on the theory of scientific change |
|---|---|
| Start Date | 6 January 2017 |
| End Date | 31 March 2017 |
Questions Raised
- Applicability of Scientonomy to Theories as Models: Is the theory of scientific change applicable to theories construed as sets of models, or in ways that reject their purely formal characterization?
- Applicability of the Laws of Scientific Change: To which mosaics do the laws of scientific change apply? Do they apply only to scientific communities, to all epistemic communities, or all communities whatsoever (including non-epistemic communities)? Do these patterns emerge and exist in communities who gather together to study the world?
- Delegation of Authority to Past Communities: Is it possible for a community to delegate authority to a community that no longer exists? Can a community delegate authority to a past expert?
- Deriving Methods from an Empty Set: Does the possibility of a method being derived from an empty set pose a problem for the current formulation of the third law? Can we conceive of a situation in which a method is derived from an empty subset?
- Implementation vs. Employment of Methods: Is there a difference between implementation and employment of a method? Is the mechanism of implementation the same as the mechanism of employment?
- Role of Non-Social and Environmental Factors in Scientific Change: In addition to interactions between people in a community, what role do interactions between people and their natural, non-social environment have on the process of scientific change?
- Role of Used Theories in Method Employment: Does the third law allow for methods to be deductive consequences of used theories?
- The Necessity of Language in Community: Is a shared language, or propositional code, presupposed by the existence of an epistemic community?