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A Unified Model of the Division of Cognitive Labor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Rogier De Langhe
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Abstract

Current theories of the division of cognitive labor are confined to the “context of justification,” assuming exogenous theories. But new theories are made from the same labor that is used for developing existing theories, and if none of this labor is ever allocated to create new alternatives, then scientific progress is impossible. A unified model is proposed in which theories are no longer given but a function of the division of labor in the model itself. The interactions of individuals balancing the exploitation of existing theories and the exploration of new theories results in a robust cyclical pattern.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 81 , Issue 3 , July 2014 , pp. 444 - 459
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

*

This article is the winner of the 2009 PSA Graduate Student Essay Award.

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