Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions - 50 Years On

In 1962, the publication of Thomas Kuhn's Structure 'revolutionized' the way one conducts philosophical and historical studies of science. Through the introduction of both memorable and controversial notions, such as paradigms, scientific revolutions, and incommensurability, Kuhn argued against the traditionally accepted notion of scientific change as a progression towards the truth about nature, and instead substituted the idea that science is a puzzle solving activity, operating under paradigms, which become discarded after it fails to respond accordingly to anomalous challenges and a rival paradigm. Kuhn's Structure has sold over 1.4 million copies and the Times Literary Supplement named it one of the "Hundred Most Influential Books since the Second World War." Now, fifty years after this groundbreaking work was published, this volume offers a timely reappraisal of the legacy of Kuhn's book and an investigation into what Structure offers philosophical, historical, and sociological studies of science in the future.

Auteur

William J. Devlin is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bridgewater State University and Summer Lecturer at University of Wyoming. His areas of research include philosophy of science, 19th century philosophy, and existentialism. He has written on issues related to the philosophies of time travel, causality, truth, Thomas Kuhn, and Friedrich Nietzsche.

Alisa Bokulich is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University, where she also organizes the Boston Colloquium for Philosophy of Science. She is a series editor for Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science and an Associate Member of Harvard University's History of Science Department. In addition to several edited books she is author of Reexamining the Quantum-Classical Relation: Beyond Reductionism and Pluralism with Cambridge University Press.

Texte du rabat

In 1962, the publication of Thomas Kuhn's Structure 'revolutionized' the way one conducts philosophical and historical studies of science. Through the introduction of both memorable and controversial notions, such as paradigms, scientific revolutions, and incommensurability, Kuhn argued against the traditionally accepted notion of scientific change as a progression towards the truth about nature, and instead substituted the idea that science is a puzzle solving activity, operating under paradigms, which become discarded after it fails to respond accordingly to anomalous challenges and a rival paradigm. Kuhn's Structure has sold over 1.4 million copies and the Times Literary Supplement named it one of the Hundred Most Influential Books since the Second World War. Now, fifty years after this groundbreaking work was published, this volume offers a timely reappraisal of the legacy of Kuhn's book and an investigation into what Structure offers philosophical, historical, and sociological studies of science in the future.

Contenu

Chapter 1: Kuhn's Structure: A Moment in Modern Naturalism; Steven Shapin.- Chapter 2: Kuhn and the Historiography of Science; Alexander Bird.- Chapter 3: From Troubled Marriage to Uneasy Colocation: Thomas Kuhn, Epistemological Revolutions, Romantic Narratives, and History and Philosophy of Science; Alan Richardson.- Chapter 4: Reconsidering the Carnap-Kuhn Connection; Jonathan Tsou.- Chapter 5: The Rationality of Science in Relation to its History; Sherrilyn Roush.- Chapter 6: What Do Scientists and Engineers Do All Day? On the Structure of Scientific Normalcy; Cyrus M. Mody.- Chapter 7: From Theory Choice to Theory Search: The Essential Tension between Explanation and Exploitation in Science; Rogier De Langhe and Peter Rubbens.- Chapter 8: The Evolving Notion and Role of Kuhn's Incommensurability Thesis; James A. Marcum.- Chapter 9: Walking the Line: Kuhn between Realism and Relativism; Michela Massimi.- Chapter 10: An Analysis of Truth in Kuhn's Philosophical Enterprise; William J. Devlin.- Chapter 11: Kuhn's Social Epistemology and the Sociology of Science; K. Brad Wray.- Chapter 12: Kuhn's Development before and after Structure; Paul Hoyningen-Huene.