Theorychange

Theorychange is the process by which theories are revised, replaced, or substantially altered in response to new evidence, conceptual advances, or changes in methodology. It treats scientific and scholarly theories as evolving frameworks rather than fixed truths, and it highlights the non-linear paths by which knowledge develops.

The term is used across natural and social sciences, as well as in the formal sciences. Theorychange can occur through incremental refinements, through radical paradigm shifts, or by integrating multiple theories into a broader synthesis. Explanations for theorychange draw on falsification, anomaly resolution, and the accumulation of supporting evidence, as well as probabilistic updating and the way theoretical commitments shape what counts as credible.

Classic examples include shifts from geocentric to heliocentric cosmology and from Newtonian to relativistic physics; in biology, revisions of evolutionary models and genetics reflect theorychange as evidence advances. In the social sciences, competing theories of behavior or institutions often replace or reinterpret earlier accounts as data, methods, and aims evolve.

Scholars debate theorychange as a descriptive account of science and as a normative claim about how knowledge should progress. Critics point to underdetermination and the role of social factors, while proponents emphasize the explanatory value of accounting for how theories transform.

See also paradigm shift, scientific revolution, and theory revision.