Dissident Interests

Scientific Paper
Title	Dissident Interests
Read in full	Link to paper
Author(s)	Viraj Fernando
Keywords	Paradigm, Epistemology, Theory, Occam's razor
Published	2008
Journal	None
No. of pages	3

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Abstract

At a certain level of development of human knowledge in any given field of study, new facts and phenomena that are discerned at a later period, come in conflict with some of the existing concepts and conventions on which older theories are based. These concepts and conventions which have previously facilitated and fostered the development of knowledge turn into fetters to its further development. This crisis may even necessitate a change of the entire conceptual framework radically, and along with it, the ruling paradigms to be more or less rapidly transformed. This is due to the fact that concepts as a rule are formulated imprecisely by way of errors or omissions unforeseen or consciously done by the use of Occam's razor by their authors. Because of this imprecision, concepts formulated to explain phenomena in earlier theories become inadequate and a hindrance to explain new phenomena discovered later on. In order to break through this impasse, earlier concepts and conventions should be analysed to find out the errors or omissions inherent in them and correct or amend them, or if they are wrong altogether, new concepts must be formulated to replace the existing ones.