Do We Need a Hierarchical Model of Science?

According to hierarchical models of science, our scientific knowledge in the broadest sense, including descriptive as well as methodological and evaluative statements, forms a knowledge system or is embedded in a larger knowledge system that has two properties: (i) it is stratified, and (ii) the items of some layer are or should be justified in terms of items of a higher layer. Hierarchical models are deeply rooted in Western culture in general. They are both viewed as describing the natural order in a variety of domains and as outstanding problem-solving environments.¹ Most past philosophers explicitly or implicitly favored hierarchical models.