Teorie

Teorie are organized sets of ideas that aim to explain phenomena, account for observations, and guide further research. They provide a framework for connecting facts, laws, and methods into a coherent account of how the world works. The term appears in several languages as the plural of theory and is central to how knowledge is structured in science and the humanities.

A theory is not a guess; it is a structured explanation that can be tested against evidence, yields testable predictions, and remains open to revision. Theories are evaluated on explanatory power, predictive success, coherence with established knowledge, and empirical content. They are typically composed of assumptions, propositions, and derived results, and they may be expressed in mathematical or conceptual form.

Theories relate to related notions such as hypotheses, models, and laws. A hypothesis is a testable statement derived from a theory; a model is a simplified representation of a system; a law describes regularities observed under certain conditions. Theories may be domain-specific or broad in scope, and they often evolve through evidence and debate, sometimes undergoing paradigm shifts when existing frameworks fail to account for new data.

Examples across fields include the theory of evolution, the theory of relativity, game theory, and social-learning theory. The development of a theory involves observation, conjecture, testing, and refinement, with theories becoming more robust as they yield accurate predictions and integrate with other knowledge.