O-Theory in the Context of Scientific Activity

In their quest to understand the phenomena of the world through a combination of observation and theory, scientists face several important questions. One is what constitutes knowledge. This question is embedded in the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge in all its various forms, called epistemology. One aspect of this field is the search for criteria that characterise scientific knowledge. Such criteria have been proposed throughout the history of science. In this chapter we have collected twelve such criteria, which we call technical science criteria. These will be used to judge whether or not the O-theory can meet them and, in this sense, be considered a scientific approach. Another major question involved in scientific activity is what the universe is made of and what determines its dynamics. Such questions about the nature of the universe are addressed by the branch of philosophy called ontology. And because scientists have to give names to the phenomena they study, be they processes or objects or anything else, the study of ontology also involves systems for naming things, which are usually called ontologies themselves. Within the broad field of ontology there are different views about how much can be said or assumed scientifically about the nature of the world. The hierarchical structure of the O-theory can be seen as providing a new context for thinking about ontology and ontologies. Finally, scientific activity and different worldviews can be placed in the context of broader questions about how to do things right. These questions explore the interface between science and ethics.