What components does a specific scientific theory consist of? (part 1)
PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES OF NATURAL SCIENCE
Keywords:
конкретні теорії, складність, типи компонентів, полісистемний погляд, підсистемиAbstract
By specific theories, we mean scientific theories that focus on particular types of material reality or phenomena, such as elementary particles, plasma, superconducting materials, quantum tunnelling, chemical reactions, gene regulation, tectonic plate movement, and the Universe. After examining various visions of the theory division into components proposed by some of the prominent scientists (Isaak Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, Pierre Maurice Marie Duhem, Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, Albert Einstein, Norman Robert Campbel, Percy Williams Bridgman, and Gerardus (Gerard) ’t Hooft) and philosophers of science (Carl/Karl Raimund Popper, Thomas Samuel Kuhn, Imre Lakatos, Paul Karl Feyerabend, Mario Augusto Bunge, Ronald Nelson Giere, Joseph Donald Sneed, Wolfgang Balzer, and Carlos Ulises Moulines), one finds that these visions fail to consider all essential components and omit many important details, even of the chosen components. Incomplete and undifferentiated visions, on the one hand, overlook many critical features of a theory, including its development and connections with other theories. On the other hand, such visions often generate pseudo-problems, such as the incomparability of classical and quantum theories. As theories underpin the modern sciences, such perspectives lead to oversimplified and overly general understandings of science and its progress. The article briefly emphasizes the significance and utility of the polysystemic vision of specific theories and their development within history, philosophy, sociology, and pedagogy of science. The first part of the article presents the types of components and physicists’ views of theories. The second part addresses the views of philosophers and our conclusions. We emphasize that in the first part, we described a bridge between Newton’s unfading template of scientific theory and the newest trends in the interpretation of modern physical theories. It is a clear example of the Western scientific tradition of both continuity and change, so that the final product looks different, but its structure remains stable, familiar, and convenient for professionals. That is why it is quite possible for a modern-day scientist to read Newton and find statements useful for his practical activity, not to talk about specific pearls created by the genius.
References
Alenitsyn, A.G., Butikov, E.I., Kondratyev, A.S. (1997). Concise Handbook of Mathematics and Physics. Boca Raton, Fl: CRC Press.
Annett, J.F. (2004). Superconductivity, Superfluids and Condensates. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Basu, D. (Ed.). (2001). Dictionary of Pure and Applied Physics. Boca Raton, Fl: CRC Press.
Benenson, W., Harris, J.W., Stöcker, H., Lutz, H. (2002). Handbook of Physics. New York: Springer.
Berezhnoi, Yu.A. (2005). The Quantum World of Nuclear Physics. Singapore: World Scientific.
Bridgman, P. (1936). The Nature of Physical Theory. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Burgin, M. (2011). Theory of Named Sets. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Burgin, M. (2012). Structural Reality. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Burgin, M., Kuznetsov, V. (1993a). Properties in science and their modelling. Quality and Quantity, 27, 371-382. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01102499
Burgin, M., Kuznetsov, V. (1986). Symmetry types in physical theory. [In Ukrainian]. In: M. Markov (Ed.), Group-Theoretical Methods in Physics (vol. 2, pp. 362-371). Moscow: Nauka.
Burgin, M., Kuznetsov, V. (1986b). Tasks, questions and assignments as components of intellectual activity in science. [In Russian]. In: Methods and Models of Mastering Intellectual System (pp. 30-31). Novosibirsk: Siberian branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Burgin, M., Kuznetsov, V. (1993b). Nomological Structures of Scientific Theories. [In Russian]. Kyiv: Naukova Dumka.
Burgin, M., Kuznetsov, V. (1993c). The beauty measures of a scientific theory. In: R. Harre (Ed.), Anglo-Ukrainian Studies in the Analysis of Scientific Discourse. Reason and Rhetoric (pp. 69-93). Lewiston; Queenstown; Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press.
Burgin, M., Kuznetsov, V. (1994). Scientific problems and questions from a logical point of view. Synthese, 100(1), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01063918
Campbell, N.R. (1920). Physics. The Elements. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Carathéodory, C. Untersuchungen über die Grundlagen der Thermodynamik. Mathematische Annallen, 67, 355–386. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01450409
Chapple, M. (1999). Dictionary of Physics. London: Routledge.
Chen, E.K. (2024). Laws of Physics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Decock, L., Douven, I., Kelp, C., Wenmackers, S. (2014). Knowledge and approximate knowledge. Erkenntnis, 79(Suppl. 6), 1129-1150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-013-9544-2
Dethier, C. (2019). How to do things with theory. The instrumental role of auxiliary hypotheses in testing. Erkenntnis, 86(6), 1453-1468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-019-00164-9
Duhem, P. (1906). La Théorie Physique, son objet et sa structure. Paris: Chevalier et Rivière. [Translated as Duhem, P. (1991). The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory. Princeton: Princeton University Press].
Einstein, A. (1952/2011). May 7, 1952. In: Letters to Solovine, 1906-1955 (p. 114). New York: Philosophical Library.
Einstein, A. (2024). Collected Works. Hastings: Delphi.
Einstein, A., Rosen, B., Podolsky, N. (1935). Can quantum-mechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical Review, 47(10), 777-780. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.47.777
Fischer-Cripps, A.C. (2015). The Physics Companion. 2nd edn. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Flügge, S. (Ed.). (1956-1984). Encyclopedia of Physics. In 54 Vols. Berlin: Springer.
Fock, V.A. (1978). Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics. Moscow: Mir Publishers.
Françoise, J.-P., Naber, G.L., Tsun, T.S. (Eds). (2006). Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics. In 5 Vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Frigg, R. (2022). Models and Theories. A Philosophical Inquiry. London; New York: Routledge.
Gabovich, O., Kuznetsov, V. (2016). Problems as internal structures of systems of scientific knowledge. [In Ukrainian]. Philosophical Dialogues 2015. To the 85th anniversary of Academician Myroslav Popovich. Philosophy. Culture. Society (pp. 132-154). Kyiv: H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy. Gabovich, A., Kuznetsov, V. (2022). Path of modern natural sciences: from discovery of realities to study of their attributes. Studies in history and philosophy of science and technology, 31(2), 3-15. https://doi.org/10.15421/272214
Gabovich, A., Kuznetsov, V. (2023a). Philosophy of Scientific Theories. Essay One. Names and Entities. With English Synopsys. [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Naukova Dumka.
Gabovich, A., Kuznetsov, V. (2023b). Scientific realism from a polysystemic view of physical theories and their functioning. Global Philosophy, 33(53) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10516-023-09703-0
Gabovich, A., Kuznetsov, V. (2025a). From general scientific values to particular theoretical estimations and their values. [In Ukrainian]. In: T. Gardashuk (Ed.), Logical, Ontological and Axiological Dimensions of Contemporary Scientific Knowledge. Kyiv: Naukova Dumka. [In print].
Gabovich, A., Kuznetsov, V. (2025b). Newtonian celestial mechanics as a componential prototype of specific theories. [Under review].
Gabovich, A., Kuznetsov, V., Voitenko, A. (2025). Superconductivity: Theoretical procedures and experimental protocol (Topical Review). Low Temperature Physics, 2025, 51(7), 913-931. https://doi.org/10.1063/10.0036875
Gelfert, A. (2011). Mathematical formalisms in scientific practice: From denotation to model-based representation. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 42, 272-286.
Gimbel, S. (Ed.). (2011). Exploring the Scientific Method. Cases and Questions. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Giovannini, E., Schiemer, G. (2021). What are implicit definitions? Erkenntnis, 86(6), 1661-1691. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-019-00176-5
Grünbaum, A. (1989). The pseudo-problem of creation in physical cosmology. Philosophy of Science, 56(3), 373-394. https://doi.org/10.1086/289497
Halpin, J.F. (2003). Scientific law. A perspectival account. Erkenntnis, 58(2), 137-168. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1022029912912
Hertz, H. (1883). Electric Waves. Being Researches on the Propagation of Electric Action with Finite Velocity Through Space (p. 21). London: Macmillan.
Hintikka, J. (1981). On the logic of an interrogative model of scientific inquiry. Synthese, 47(1), 69-83. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01064266
Hintikka, J. (2007). Socratic Epistemology. Explorations of Knowledge Seeking by Questioning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jardine, N. (2000). The Scenes of Inquiry. On the Reality of Questions in the Sciences. Expanded Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Josset, T., Perez, A., Sudarsky, D. (2017). Dark Energy from Violation of Energy Conservation. Physical Review Letters, 118(2), 021102. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.021102
Kirkby, L.A. (2011). Physics. A Student companion. Banbury: Scion.
Knight, D. (1989). Theory. In: D. Knight (Ed.), A Companion to the Physical Sciences. New York: Routledge.
Kragh, H. (2024). The Names of Science. Terminology and Language in the History of the Natural Sciences. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kuznetsov, V., Kuznetsova, E. (1998). Types of concept fuzziness. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 96(2), 129-138. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-2612-2_23
Kuznetsov, V., Shataliuk, V. (2024). Functions of mathematical languages in physical theories. In: O.V. Kovtun (Ed.), Transcending Language Barriers in Speech Communications: Education, Science, and Culture (pp. 147-150). Kyiv: State University 'Kyiv Aviation Institute'.
Lerner, R., Trigg, G.L. (Eds.). (1991). Encyclopedia of Physics. 2nd edn. USA: VCH Publishers.
Matolcsi, T., Ván, P., Verhás, J. (2005). Fundamental problems of variational Principles. Objectivity, Symmetries and Construction. In: S. Sieniutycz, H. Farkas (Eds.). Variational and extremum principles in macroscopic systems (pp. 57-74). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
McKinsey, J.C.C., Sugar, A.C., Suppes, P. (1953). Axiomatic foundations of classical particle mechanics. Journal of Rational Mechanics and Analysis, 2, 253-272. Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24900331?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Pepp, J. (2019). What determines the reference of names? What determines the objects of thought? Erkenntnis, 84(4), 741–759. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-018-0048-y
Pettigrew, A.M. (1997). What is a processual analysis? Scandinavian Journal of Management, 13(4), 337-348.
Planck, M. (1960). A Survey of Physical Theory. New York: Dover.
Ratner, L.W. (2003). Non-Linear Theory of Elasticity and Optimal Design. San Diego, CA: Elsevier.
Rigden, J.S. (Ed.). (1996). Macmillan Encyclopedia of Physics. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Rindler, W. (2006). Relativity – Special, General, and Cosmological. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rulev, A.Yu. (2025). Chemical jargon: thinking out loud. Foundations of Chemistry, 27(1), 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-024-09521-1
Sanitt, N. (1996). Science as Questioning Process. London: Institute of Physics.
Sanitt, N. (2007). A mingled yarn: problematology and science. Revue internationale de philosophie, 4(242), 435-449.
Schutz, B. (2022). A First Course in General Relativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sereni, A. (2024). Definitions and Mathematical Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Szabo, R., Bojowald, M. (Eds.). (2025). Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics. 2nd edn. In 4 Vols. London: Academic Press.
’t Hooft, G. (1984). Quantum field theory for elementary particles. Is quantum field theory a theory? Physics Reports, 104(2-4), 129-142.
ten Berge, T., van Hezewijk, R. (1999). Procedural and declarative knowledge. Theory and Psychology, 9(5), 605-624.
Tweney, R.D. (2009). Mathematical representations in science: a cognitive-historical case history. Topics in Cognitive Sciences, 1(4), 758-776.
Wood, C., Sherman, M. (2022). Inside the Proton, the ‘most complicated thing you could imagine. Retrieved from: https://www.quantamagazine.org/inside-the-proton-the-most-complicated-thing-imaginable-20221019
Whetham, W.C.D. (1905). The Theory of Experimental Electricity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wigner, E. (1964). Symmetry and conservation laws. PNAS, 51(5), 956-965. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.51.5.95
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
