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Chapter 5 - Mop-Up Work

from Part II - Three Core Concepts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2021

K. Brad Wray
Affiliation:
Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
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Summary

Thomas Kuhn conceived of himself, in the project most notably realized in the Structure of Scientific Revolutions, as presenting and supporting a novel image of science grounded in both its history and practice. Central to Kuhn’s new image of science is the idea that there are two distinct modes of scientific inquiry, its normal mode and its extraordinary mode. These modes show up along several dimensions of Kuhn’s image, including, but not limited to, the historical development of science, the cognitive strategies appropriate for its success, its social organization, and in the ‘location’ and nature of its content. This chapter attempts to capture and convey Kuhn’s notion of normal science by analyzing the three metaphors that he uses to introduce and explain the significance of the normal mode in his novel image of science.I will then introduce a metaphor of my own for understanding Kuhn’s importance, particularly by way of the notion of normal science, for contemporary work in the philosophy of science.

Type
Chapter
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Interpreting Kuhn
Critical Essays
, pp. 85 - 104
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Mop-Up Work
  • Edited by K. Brad Wray, Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
  • Book: Interpreting Kuhn
  • Online publication: 25 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108653206.006
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  • Mop-Up Work
  • Edited by K. Brad Wray, Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
  • Book: Interpreting Kuhn
  • Online publication: 25 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108653206.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Mop-Up Work
  • Edited by K. Brad Wray, Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
  • Book: Interpreting Kuhn
  • Online publication: 25 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108653206.006
Available formats
×