Changing the Theory of Theory Change
Towards a Computational Approach
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8399336 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Neil Tennant (0000-0002-3523-2296, The Ohio State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1994 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 865-897 |
| Publication date | 1994-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/bjps/45.3.865 |
| OpenAlex | W2107942087 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 12 |
The Theory of theory change has contraction and revision as its central notions. Of these, contraction is the more fundamental. The best-known theory, due to Alchourrón, Gärdenfors, and Makinson, is based on a few central postulates. The most fundamental of these is the principle of recovery: if one contracts a theory with respect to a sentence, and then adds that sentence back again, one recovers the whole theory.Recovery is demonstrably false. This paper shows why, and investigates how one can nevertheless characterize contraction in a theoretically fruitful way. The theory proposed lends itself to implementation, which in turn could yield new theoretical insights. The Main proposal is a ‘staining algorithm’ which identifies which sentences to reject when contracting a theory. The algorithm requires one to be clear about the structure of reasons one has for including sentences within one's theory.
Algorithm · Contraction (grammar) · Linguistics · Mathematical economics · Optimality theory · Sentence · AI-based Problem Solving and Planning · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge · Mathematics · Multi-Agent Systems and Negotiation · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,1 |
| Citation span | 1995 - 2000 (6) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |