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Criticism and Revolutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Mara Beller
Mara Beller*
Affiliation:
Program in the History and Philosophy of Science The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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The argument

In this paper I argue that Kuhn's and Hanson's notion of incommensurable paradigms is rooted in the rhetoric of finality of the Copenhagen dogma — the orthodox philosophical interpretation of quantum physics. I also argue that arguments for holism of a paradigm, on which the notion of the impossibility of its gradual modification is based, misinterpret the Duhem-Quine thesis. The history of science (Copernican, Chemical, and Quantum Revolutions) demonstrates fruitful selective appropriation of ideas from seemingly “incommensurable” paradigms (rather than the impossibility of communication between their representatives). I argue in conclusion that such openness underlies scientific creativity, and that dialogue between different alternatives is indispensable for the growth of knowledge.

Type
Research Article
Information
Science in Context , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , Spring 1997 , pp. 13 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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Footnotes

*

This paper was written and presented at the conference “Models of Critique in Science, Society, and Arts,” Jerusalem–Tel Aviv, 13–16 May 1996, before the sad news of T.S. Kuhn's passing away reached me.

I would like to express my personal scholarly debt to Thomas Kuhn's work, as well as my deep appreciation of his enormous impact on the history, philosophy, and sociology of science.

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