Abstract:

Science is a teleological instrument of knowledge discovery. Modeling science in an evolutionary framework provides insight into the nature of science as an epistemic instrument, but also mask important aspects of science that are difficult to include in an evolutionary context. To bring these features out, this presentation considers science from a developmental perspective. The terms evolution and development are often used interchangeably in evolutionary models, but there are significant differences. Evolution is linear, open-ended, and divergent. Development is cyclic, pre-determined, and convergent. The purpose of science is to fit language to reality as accurately and unambiguously as possible. This determines its conditions of possibility and satisfaction. These conditions establish three developmental stages, each marked by a crisis that must be resolved in order to stabilize that stage. Examination of the history of science allows determination of a common pattern followed in these crises. Applying this to the present, the implication is that science is in the midst of a crisis that involves the necessity of having conceptual frameworks for understanding, the fact that no framework can provide complete understanding, and the need to discover validity criteria, beyond rational consistency and empirical support, for evaluation of these frameworks.

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