Schools of Thought
Compare Schools
Place two to five schools on the same six-dimensional grid and read their commitments axis by axis. Where the values agree, the schools share an underlying assumption about reality; where they diverge, you have located the precise joint at which the traditions part ways — not a difference of emphasis or vocabulary, but of ontology. Matching axes are highlighted so agreements and disagreements are legible at a glance.
| Attribute |
#154
Philosophy of Science
Whewell (Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, 1840), Mill (System of Logic, 1843), Mach (Knowledge and Error, 1905), the Vienna Circle (1920s–30s), Popper (Logik der Forschung, 1934), Kuhn (Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 1962), Lakatos, Feyerabend, Hempel; contemporary work by van Fraassen, Cartwright, Hacking, Longino.
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|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Finite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Mediated |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Partial |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Moral Authority | — |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Discrete |