Kuhn's Intellectual Path

Préface
Examines the influences on and impact of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

Auteur
K. Brad Wray is Professor of Philosophy at Aarhus University.

Résumé
Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions offers an insightful and engaging theory of science that speaks to scholars across many disciplines. Though initially widely misunderstood, it had a profound impact on the way intellectuals and educated laypeople thought about science. K. Brad Wray traces the influences on Kuhn as he wrote Structure, including his 'Aristotle epiphany', his interactions, and his studies of the history of chemistry. Wray then considers the impact of Structure on the social sciences, on the history of science, and on the philosophy of science, where the problem of theory change has set the terms of contemporary realism/anti-realism debates. He examines Kuhn's frustrations with the Strong Programme sociologists' appropriations of his views, and debunks several popular claims about what influenced Kuhn as he wrote Structure. His book is a rich and comprehensive assessment of one of the most influential works in the modern sciences.

Contenu
Introduction; Part I. The Groundwork for Structure: Harvard 1947 to 1955: 1. What did Aristotle Teach Kuhn?; 2. The Influence of James B. Conant; 3. Kuhn and the History of Chemistry; 4. Kuhn and the Logical Positivists; Part II. The Unexpected Uptake: Kuhn and the Social Sciences: 5. Kuhn's Influence on the Social Sciences; 6. The Elephant in the Room: The Sociology of Scientific Knowledge; Part III. Kuhn and the History of Science; 7. Copenhagen, 1962-1963: A Return to the History of Science; 8. Structure, Historicism and the History of Science; Part IV. Kuhn's Philosophical Legacy: 9. Squeals of Outrage from Philosophers; 10. Kuhn and the Contemporary Realism/Anti-realism Debates; 11. Kuhn's Career, Post-Structure.