A Theory of Scientific Change

At any moment of history, there are theories that the scientific community of the time accepts as the best available descriptions of reality. In addition, there are methods which the scientific community of the time employs in theory assessment. This set of all accepted theories and all employed methods constitute the scientific mosaic of the time. The mosaic is in a process of constant change – both accepted theories and employed methods change through time. The main question of this dissertation is: are there any laws governing the process of transitions from one accepted theory to another and from one employed method to another? I.e. can there be a general theory of scientific change? Contrary to the widespread opinion, I argue that scientific change is a law-governed process and that there can be a general descriptive theory of scientific change (TSC). In the first part of the dissertation, I clarify the scope of TSC by defining it as a descriptive theory that reveals the actual mechanism of transitions in the mosaic, regardless of its scale, time period or field of inquiry. Then, I scrutinize and reject a number of traditional arguments against the possibility of TSC. In the second part, I construct an actual theory of scientific change. First, I postulate four axioms – four laws of scientific change. From these laws, I deduce a number of theorems concerning different aspects of scientific change. All axioms and theorems are illustrated by examples from the actual history of science. By proposing this TSC, I oppose the common wisdom of the so-called disunity of science thesis. I argue against the particularist approach which holds that the history of science can only be studied in a piecemeal fashion. On the contrary, I show that a general descriptive theory of scientific change can and does exist.

Department dc:contributor.department

History and Philosophy of Science and Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Barseghyan, Hakob

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Baigrie, Brian

• Scientific Change
• Method
• Theory

Language dc:language.iso

en_ca

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1807/67254

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/67254