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The concept of the paradigm shift, however, negates the very idea that truth could ever actually be reached. Each paradigm -- which only gives way to another paradigm, leaving all knowledge and understanding ultimately tied to some semblance of foundational assumptions. There is no getting beyond the assumptions, as they are a necessary component (in Kuhn's view) of establishing any sort of causal understanding at all. Science is then, taking Kuhn's theory of paradigm shifts to its logical conclusion, ultimately and always doomed to failure if its goal is defined as the determination and explanation of truth. The goal of science must itself be redefined as a result of Kuhn's concept of the paradigm shift, unless a competing theory proves as effective in explaining scientific progress -- and captures the attention of the scientific community as well. Such paradigm shifts do not come easily, however.
Conclusion
Few -- if any -- books of the twentieth century have been as influential in shaping the modern understanding of science as Thomas Kuhn's the Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Whether or not all or any of his ideas are adhered to, modern students and practitioners of science cannot work outside the realm of "Kuhnian" concepts and explanations. His book has, in a way, proved its own point by establishing a paradigmatic...
This is precisely what Kuhn was pointing out, and his skill in doing so rendered it true…for now.
References
Blunden, a. (1998). "On the nature and necessity of scientific revolutions." Accessed 20 February 2010. http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/kuhn.htm
Bird, a. (2004). "Thomas Kuhn." Accessed 20 February 2010. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/thomas-kuhn/
Eng, L. (2001). "The accidental rebel: Thomas Kuhn and the Structure of Scientific Revolutions." http://www.cjas.org/~leng/kuhn.pdf
Forster, M. (1998). "Thomas Kuhn's the Structure of Scientific Revolutions." Accessed 20 February 2010. http://philosophy.wisc.edu/Forster/220/kuhn.htm
Mitra, a. (2003). "Thomas Kuhn's Structure of scientific revolutions: A critique." Accessed 20 February 2010. http://horizons-2000.org/2.%20Ideas%20and%20Meaning/Topics/critique%20of%20Kuhn's%20argument.html#_Toc42529281
Zoltan, M. (2010). "Thomas S. Kuhn's theory of paradigm shifts." Accessed 20 February 2010. http://philosophybooks.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_structure_of_scientific_revolutions
Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996) was an American scientist, historian and philosopher who wrote a controversial book in 1962 called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Kuhn was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and from an early age expressed interest in science, particularly physics; obtaining his BS degree in physics from Harvard in 1943. He stayed at Harvard for his MS and PhD, and credits the period of the late 1940s in helping him
What they had regarded as the most certain of all theories turned out to be in need of serious revision. In reaction, they resolved never again to bestow their faith in scientific truth unconditionally. Skepticism, not certainty, became their watchword. (ibid) The implication of Kuhn's work was that science was seen to be dependent on history. It was no longer superior to historical analysis but could only be understood within the
Research can be added to the paradigms through discovery, without an actual paradigm shift, or the paradigm can be completely replaced through crisis. Scientific revolutions are sometimes so great that it can be said that with the advent of a paradigm shift, the world itself changes. However, as Kuhn (1996) sustains, the world does not actually change every time a paradigm shift occurs, although it can be said that the
If the anomaly resists explanation within the paradigm, the paradigm is altered to include the anomaly. Therefore, to lead to a true crisis and to form the foundation of a scientific revolution, an anomaly must conflict with the basic tenets of the paradigm. In addition, the anomaly cannot be answered by normal research and problem-solving skills within the paradigm, regardless of the modifications. Therefore, it can be said that crises
This was based on what little normative science could be carried out through crossing different animals. It was an accepted fact to many in the animal husbandry business. The first creative breakthrough occurred in 1868 when a young Swiss physician, Freiderich Meischer, isolated something that had not been seen before. This creative scientist isolated nucleic acid, a compound found in both DNA and RNA (Fredholm). This discovery sparked a
Education Reform A Paradigm Shift in Education Reform Basic ideas are not confined to one branch of science or one area of academic study; if it is a truly worthwhile idea it can be expanded to include many different area of science. The scientific method was at first thought to only be useful to those scientists who knew that they could find definitive answers such as mathematicians and physicists. The hard sciences