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The term '''theory''' has two broad sets of [[meanings]], one used in the empirical [[The Sciences|sciences]] (both natural and social) and the other used in [[philosophy]], [[mathematics]], [[logic]], and across other fields in the [[humanities]]. There is considerable [[difference]] and even dispute across academic [[disciplines]] as to the proper usages of the term. What follows is an attempt to describe how the term is used, not to try to say how it ought to be used.
Although the scientific [[meaning]] is by far the more commonly used in academic [[discourse]], it is hardly the only one used, and it would be a mistake to assume from the outset that a given use of the term "theory" in academic [[literature]] or discourse is a [[reference]] to a scientific or empirically-based theory.
Even so, since the use of the term theory in scientific or empirical [[inquiry]] is the more common one, it will be discussed first. (Other usages follow in the section labeled "Theories formally and generally.")
A theory, in the scientific sense of the word, is an [[analytic]] [[structure]] designed to explain a set of empirical observations. A scientific theory does two [[things]]:
*1. it identifies this set of distinct observations as a class of [[phenomena]], and
*2. makes assertions about the underlying [[reality]] that brings about or affects this class.
In the scientific or empirical [[tradition]], the term "theory" is reserved for [[ideas]] which meet baseline requirements about the kinds of empirical observations made, the [[methods]] of classification used, and the consistency of the theory in its application among members of the class to which it pertains. These requirements vary across different scientific fields of [[knowledge]], but in general, theories are expected to be [[function]]al and parsimonious: i.e. a theory should be the simplest possible tool that can be used to effectively address the given class of phenomena.
Theories are distinct from theorems: theorems are derived deductively from theories according to a [[formal]] system of rules, generally as a first step in testing or applying the theory in a concrete situation. Theories are abstract and [[concept]]ual, and to this end they are never considered right or wrong. Instead, they are supported or challenged by observations in the world. They are 'rigorously tentative', meaning that they are proposed as true but expected to satisfy careful [[examination]] to account for the [[possibility]] of faulty [[inference]] or incorrect observation. Sometimes theories are falsified, meaning that an explicit set of observations contradicts some fundamental assumption of the theory, but more often theories are revised to conform to new observations, by restricting the class of phenomena the theory applies to or changing the assertions made. Sometimes a theory is set aside by scholars because there is no way to examine its assertions [[analytically]]; these may continue on in the popular [[imagination]] until some means of examination is found which either refutes or lends credence to the theory.
The word 'theory' is generally considered to derive from Greek θεωρία theoria (Jerome), Greek "contemplation, speculation", from θεωρός "[[Spectacle|spectator]]", θέα thea "a view" + ὁρᾶν horan "to see", literally "looking at a show".[1] A second possible etymology traces the word back to το θείον to theion "[[divine]] [[things]]" instead of thea, [[reflecting]] the [[concept]] of contemplating the divine organisation ([[Cosmos]]) of the [[nature]]. The word has been in use in [[English]] since at least the late 16th century.[2]
==Theories formally and generally==
Theories are analytical tools for [[understanding]], explaining, and making [[predictions]] about a given subject matter. There are theories in many and varied fields of [[study]], including [[the arts]] and [[sciences]]. A formal theory is [[syntactic]] in [[nature]] and is only meaningful when given a semantic component by applying it to some [[content]] (i.e. [[facts]] and [[relationships]] of the actual historical world as it is unfolding). Theories in various fields of study are expressed in natural language, but are always constructed in such a way that their general form is identical to a theory as it is expressed in the formal language of [[mathematical]] [[logic]]. Theories may be expressed mathematically, [[symbol]]ically, or in common language, but are generally expected to follow principles of [[rational]] [[thought]] or [[logic]].
Theory is constructed of a set of sentences which consist entirely of true statements about the subject matter under consideration. However, the [[truth]] of any one of these statements is always [[relative]] to the whole theory. Therefore the same statement may be true with respect to one theory, and not true with respect to another.
This is, in ordinary language, where statements such as "He is a terrible person" cannot be [[judged]] to be true or false without [[reference]] to some interpretation of who "He" is and for that matter what a "terrible person" is under this theory. [3]
Sometimes two theories have exactly the same explanatory [[power]] because they make the same predictions. A pair of such theories is called indistinguishable, and the [[choice]] between them reduces to convenience or philosophical preference.
The form of theories is studied [[formal]]ly in [[mathematical]] [[logic]], especially in [[model]] theory. When theories are studied in mathematics, they are usually expressed in some formal language and their statements are closed under application of certain procedures called rules of [[inference]]. A special case of this, an [[axiomatic]] theory, consists of axioms (or axiom schemata) and rules of inference. A theorem is a statement that can be derived from those axioms by application of these rules of inference. Theories used in applications are abstractions of observed phenomena and the resulting theorems provide solutions to real-world problems. Obvious examples include [[arithmetic]] (abstracting concepts of [[number]]), [[geometry]] (concepts of [[space]]), and [[probability]] (concepts of [[random]]ness and likelihood).
==Notes==
# Frisk; derivation from θεός was suggested by Koller Glotta 36, 273ff.
# Harper, Douglas. "theory". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=theory. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
# Curry, Haskell, Foundations of Mathematical Logic
# Merriam-Webster.com Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Theory in Science
# National Academy of Sciences (2005), Science, Evolution, and Creationism, a brochure on the book of the same title.
# AAAS Evolution Resources
==References==
* Popper, Karl (1963), Conjectures and Refutations, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, UK, pp. 33–39. Reprinted in Theodore Schick (ed., 2000), Readings in the Philosophy of Science, Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, Calif., pp. 9–13.
* Chairman of Biology and Kennesaw State Ronald Matson's webpage comparing scientific laws and theories
* Hawking, Stephen (1996). "The Illustrated A Brief History of Time" (Updated and expanded ed.). New York: Bantam Books, p. 15.
* Mohr, Johnathon (2008). "Revelations and Implications of the Failure of Pragmatism: The Hijacking of Knowledge Creation by the Ivory Tower". New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 87–192.
[[Category: General Reference]]
[[Category: The Sciences]]
The term '''theory''' has two broad sets of [[meanings]], one used in the empirical [[The Sciences|sciences]] (both natural and social) and the other used in [[philosophy]], [[mathematics]], [[logic]], and across other fields in the [[humanities]]. There is considerable [[difference]] and even dispute across academic [[disciplines]] as to the proper usages of the term. What follows is an attempt to describe how the term is used, not to try to say how it ought to be used.
Although the scientific [[meaning]] is by far the more commonly used in academic [[discourse]], it is hardly the only one used, and it would be a mistake to assume from the outset that a given use of the term "theory" in academic [[literature]] or discourse is a [[reference]] to a scientific or empirically-based theory.
Even so, since the use of the term theory in scientific or empirical [[inquiry]] is the more common one, it will be discussed first. (Other usages follow in the section labeled "Theories formally and generally.")
A theory, in the scientific sense of the word, is an [[analytic]] [[structure]] designed to explain a set of empirical observations. A scientific theory does two [[things]]:
*1. it identifies this set of distinct observations as a class of [[phenomena]], and
*2. makes assertions about the underlying [[reality]] that brings about or affects this class.
In the scientific or empirical [[tradition]], the term "theory" is reserved for [[ideas]] which meet baseline requirements about the kinds of empirical observations made, the [[methods]] of classification used, and the consistency of the theory in its application among members of the class to which it pertains. These requirements vary across different scientific fields of [[knowledge]], but in general, theories are expected to be [[function]]al and parsimonious: i.e. a theory should be the simplest possible tool that can be used to effectively address the given class of phenomena.
Theories are distinct from theorems: theorems are derived deductively from theories according to a [[formal]] system of rules, generally as a first step in testing or applying the theory in a concrete situation. Theories are abstract and [[concept]]ual, and to this end they are never considered right or wrong. Instead, they are supported or challenged by observations in the world. They are 'rigorously tentative', meaning that they are proposed as true but expected to satisfy careful [[examination]] to account for the [[possibility]] of faulty [[inference]] or incorrect observation. Sometimes theories are falsified, meaning that an explicit set of observations contradicts some fundamental assumption of the theory, but more often theories are revised to conform to new observations, by restricting the class of phenomena the theory applies to or changing the assertions made. Sometimes a theory is set aside by scholars because there is no way to examine its assertions [[analytically]]; these may continue on in the popular [[imagination]] until some means of examination is found which either refutes or lends credence to the theory.
The word 'theory' is generally considered to derive from Greek θεωρία theoria (Jerome), Greek "contemplation, speculation", from θεωρός "[[Spectacle|spectator]]", θέα thea "a view" + ὁρᾶν horan "to see", literally "looking at a show".[1] A second possible etymology traces the word back to το θείον to theion "[[divine]] [[things]]" instead of thea, [[reflecting]] the [[concept]] of contemplating the divine organisation ([[Cosmos]]) of the [[nature]]. The word has been in use in [[English]] since at least the late 16th century.[2]
==Theories formally and generally==
Theories are analytical tools for [[understanding]], explaining, and making [[predictions]] about a given subject matter. There are theories in many and varied fields of [[study]], including [[the arts]] and [[sciences]]. A formal theory is [[syntactic]] in [[nature]] and is only meaningful when given a semantic component by applying it to some [[content]] (i.e. [[facts]] and [[relationships]] of the actual historical world as it is unfolding). Theories in various fields of study are expressed in natural language, but are always constructed in such a way that their general form is identical to a theory as it is expressed in the formal language of [[mathematical]] [[logic]]. Theories may be expressed mathematically, [[symbol]]ically, or in common language, but are generally expected to follow principles of [[rational]] [[thought]] or [[logic]].
Theory is constructed of a set of sentences which consist entirely of true statements about the subject matter under consideration. However, the [[truth]] of any one of these statements is always [[relative]] to the whole theory. Therefore the same statement may be true with respect to one theory, and not true with respect to another.
This is, in ordinary language, where statements such as "He is a terrible person" cannot be [[judged]] to be true or false without [[reference]] to some interpretation of who "He" is and for that matter what a "terrible person" is under this theory. [3]
Sometimes two theories have exactly the same explanatory [[power]] because they make the same predictions. A pair of such theories is called indistinguishable, and the [[choice]] between them reduces to convenience or philosophical preference.
The form of theories is studied [[formal]]ly in [[mathematical]] [[logic]], especially in [[model]] theory. When theories are studied in mathematics, they are usually expressed in some formal language and their statements are closed under application of certain procedures called rules of [[inference]]. A special case of this, an [[axiomatic]] theory, consists of axioms (or axiom schemata) and rules of inference. A theorem is a statement that can be derived from those axioms by application of these rules of inference. Theories used in applications are abstractions of observed phenomena and the resulting theorems provide solutions to real-world problems. Obvious examples include [[arithmetic]] (abstracting concepts of [[number]]), [[geometry]] (concepts of [[space]]), and [[probability]] (concepts of [[random]]ness and likelihood).
==Notes==
# Frisk; derivation from θεός was suggested by Koller Glotta 36, 273ff.
# Harper, Douglas. "theory". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=theory. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
# Curry, Haskell, Foundations of Mathematical Logic
# Merriam-Webster.com Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Theory in Science
# National Academy of Sciences (2005), Science, Evolution, and Creationism, a brochure on the book of the same title.
# AAAS Evolution Resources
==References==
* Popper, Karl (1963), Conjectures and Refutations, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, UK, pp. 33–39. Reprinted in Theodore Schick (ed., 2000), Readings in the Philosophy of Science, Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, Calif., pp. 9–13.
* Chairman of Biology and Kennesaw State Ronald Matson's webpage comparing scientific laws and theories
* Hawking, Stephen (1996). "The Illustrated A Brief History of Time" (Updated and expanded ed.). New York: Bantam Books, p. 15.
* Mohr, Johnathon (2008). "Revelations and Implications of the Failure of Pragmatism: The Hijacking of Knowledge Creation by the Ivory Tower". New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 87–192.
[[Category: General Reference]]
[[Category: The Sciences]]
