On Mon 13 Feb, we will be discussing Kuhn's famous philosophical account of scientific change, from which the notion of a "paradigm shift" entered our vocabulary. To prepare for Monday's class, please do the following.
Read
- Chpt. 19, "The Nature of Normal Science"
- Chpt. 20, "The Nature of Revolutionary Science"
Think About - Chpt. 19
- According to Kuhn, what are the main features of normal science?
- Why is normal science like a puzzle?
- Can you think or find a genuine example (from science) that fits Kuhn's description of normal science as puzzle solving?
- What kind of commitments does scientists derive from a "paradigm"? Does this help us articulate what we mean by a "paradigm?" If so, what are the key elements of a "paradigm"?
Think About - Chpt. 20
- What is a scientific revolution and how is it analogous to a political revolution?
- What events lead to the end of normal science and the beginning of a scientific revolution?
- Why is the debate between the revolutionary party and the establishment (in a scientific revolution) one that cannot be arbitrated by reason (according to Kuhn, of course)?
- In what sense is a scientific theory and its successor incompatible or incommensurable?
- In what sense does Kuhn think it is correct to say that the laws of Einsteinian physics do not reduce to the laws of Newtonian physics? What is the philosophical significance of this?
