Omar Bennett
Thomas Kuhn's book, *The Structure of Scientific Revolutions*, published in 1962, changed the way we think about the development of science. Before Kuhn, the dominant view of science was that it progressed steadily towards truth, but Kuhn saw discontinuities – a set of alternating normal and revolutionary phases. According to Kuhn, a crisis in science arises when confidence is lost in the ability of the paradigm to solve particularly worrying puzzles called ‘anomalies’. Crises are often resolved within the context of normal science, but if a paradigm proves chronically unable to account for anomalies, the community enters a crisis period. This crisis is followed by a paradigm shift or scientific revolution, in which the underlying assumptions of the field are reexamined and a new paradigm is established.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Accumulation of troublesome anomalies | Inadequacies in commonly used equipment |
| Loss of confidence in the paradigm | Casting doubt on underlying theory |
| Widespread failure in confidence | Search for a revised disciplinary matrix |
| Revolutionary change in world view | Paradigm shift |
| Normal science enters a crisis | Anomalies, i.e. new and unexpected events |
| Lack of consensus | Incompatible and incomplete theories |
| Problem-solving or "puzzle-solving" | Scientific revolution |
| Paradigm shift |
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What You'll Learn
Anomalies and crisis
Thomas Kuhn's book, 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions', published in 1962, is one of the most influential books of the 20th century. Kuhn's ideas have significantly impacted how we understand scientific progress and development.
Kuhn's central idea is that the development of science is driven by adherence to a 'paradigm'. A paradigm is a set of universally recognised principles, methodologies, and cultural concepts that define the work of the scientific community of a certain era. These paradigms are the 'puzzles' that scientists attempt to solve, and they also provide the tools to solve them.
Anomalies are new and unexpected events that occur and cannot be explained by the existing paradigm. Over time, these anomalies accumulate and can reach a point where scientists begin to question the paradigm itself. This is when a crisis occurs. A crisis is characterised by a proliferation of new ideas, a willingness to explore alternatives, explicit discontent, and a return to fundamental debates.
For example, an anomaly might reveal inadequacies in commonly used equipment, casting doubt on the underlying theory. If much of normal science relies on this equipment, it becomes difficult to continue with confidence until the anomaly is addressed. This loss of confidence in the existing paradigm can lead to a crisis.
Kuhn identifies that within any community of scientists, there are individuals who are bolder and more willing to explore alternatives to long-held assumptions. These scientists may embark on what Kuhn calls 'revolutionary science', which can lead to the development of a rival paradigm. However, the majority of the scientific community will oppose conceptual change, and according to Kuhn, they should. This balance between bold exploration and conservatism is necessary for the advancement of scientific knowledge.
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Paradigm shift
Thomas Kuhn's book, *The Structure of Scientific Revolutions*, published in 1962, introduced the idea of a paradigm shift and is considered one of the most influential books of the 20th century. According to Kuhn, a paradigm is a set of universally recognised principles, methodological processes, and cultural concepts that refer to the work of a "scientific community" of a certain era. The functions of a paradigm are to supply puzzles for scientists to solve and to provide the tools for their solution.
A paradigm shift, or scientific revolution, is the phase in which the underlying assumptions of a field are reexamined and a new paradigm is established. Kuhn's vision of scientific progress is that it must always be correlated with an actual situation and whose validity is limited to a well-defined methodology. A paradigm shift occurs when a paradigm proves chronically unable to account for anomalies, and the community enters a crisis period. Crises are characterised by a proliferation of compelling articulations, the willingness to try anything, explicit discontent, and a recourse to philosophy and debate over fundamentals. Kuhn notes that a crisis is followed by a paradigm shift or scientific revolution if the existing paradigm is superseded by a rival.
A mature science, according to Kuhn, experiences alternating phases of normal science and revolutions. In normal science, the key theories, instruments, values, and metaphysical assumptions that comprise the disciplinary matrix are kept fixed, permitting the cumulative generation of puzzle solutions. In a scientific revolution, the disciplinary matrix undergoes revision to permit the solution of more serious anomalous puzzles that disturbed the preceding period of normal science. Kuhn states that scientists cannot by themselves "translate" between an old and a new paradigm; these paradigms are incommensurable, and can be (partially) translated only with the aid of historians.
The new paradigm becomes popularised in textbooks, which serve as instructional material for the next generation of scientists, who are brought up with the idea that the paradigm, once new and revolutionary, is just the way things are done. The novelty of the scientific revolution recedes and disappears, until the process is begun anew with another anomaly-crisis-paradigm shift. Kuhn's idea of a paradigm shift has been extremely influential, and his emphasis on the importance of communities of scientists clustered around a shared paradigm essentially triggered the growth of a new academic discipline—the sociology of science.
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Scientific revolution
Thomas Kuhn's book, *The Structure of Scientific Revolutions*, published in 1962, changed the way we think about science. Kuhn's central idea is that the development of science is driven, in normal periods, by adherence to what he calls a 'paradigm'. A paradigm is a set of universally recognized principles, methodological processes, and cultural concepts that refer to the work of a particular scientific community of a certain era.
The functions of a paradigm are to supply puzzles for scientists to solve and to provide the tools for their solution. Scientists work within a 'disciplinary matrix', which Kuhn describes as being made up of four sections: symbolic generalizations, metaphysical presumptions, value judgments of theories, and puzzle solvers used as models or examples.
A crisis in science arises when confidence is lost in the ability of the paradigm to solve particularly worrying puzzles, or anomalies. An anomaly might, for example, reveal inadequacies in commonly used equipment, thereby casting doubt on the underlying theory. If much of normal science relies upon this equipment, it will be difficult for scientists to continue with confidence until the anomaly is addressed. A widespread failure in such confidence is what Kuhn calls a 'crisis'.
The crisis is followed by a scientific revolution if the existing paradigm is superseded by a rival. This is known as a paradigm shift. Kuhn emphasizes that a scientific community needs to contain both individuals who are bold and individuals who are conservative. The revolutionary new theory that succeeds in replacing another that is subject to crisis may fail to satisfy all the needs of those working with the earlier theory.
A mature science, according to Kuhn, experiences alternating phases of normal science and revolutions. In normal science, the key theories, instruments, values, and metaphysical assumptions that comprise the disciplinary matrix are kept fixed, permitting the cumulative generation of puzzle solutions. In a scientific revolution, the disciplinary matrix undergoes revision to permit the solution of the more serious anomalous puzzles that disturbed the preceding period of normal science.
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Disciplinary matrix
Thomas Kuhn's book, *The Structure of Scientific Revolutions*, published in 1962, introduced the concept of a 'paradigm' and its role in driving the development of science. According to Kuhn, a paradigm is a set of universally recognised principles, methodological processes, and cultural concepts shared by a scientific community during a particular era. It provides the tools and puzzles for scientists to solve, with the puzzles arising from anomalies or unexpected events that the paradigm fails to explain.
The accumulation of these anomalies leads to a crisis in the scientific community, which Kuhn characterises as "a proliferation of compelling articulations, the willingness to try anything, the expression of explicit discontent, the recourse to philosophy, and debate over fundamentals". This crisis period is marked by a loss of confidence in the existing paradigm and a search for a revised disciplinary matrix that can better address the anomalies.
The disciplinary matrix, a term coined by Kuhn, refers to the key theories, instruments, values, and metaphysical assumptions that comprise the shared paradigm. It is the consensus of the scientific community on these elements that defines the disciplinary matrix. During a crisis, the disciplinary matrix undergoes a revolutionary change, leading to a paradigm shift. This revolution allows for the elimination of pressing anomalies and the solution of previously unsolvable puzzles.
Kuhn's concept of the disciplinary matrix highlights the importance of consensus and shared assumptions in the scientific community. During normal science, the disciplinary matrix remains fixed, allowing for cumulative puzzle-solving within the existing paradigm. However, when anomalies accumulate and the paradigm fails to account for them, the disciplinary matrix is revised, leading to a paradigm shift and a new phase of normal science.
The revolutionary change in the disciplinary matrix can result in the formation of new specialties and taxonomic structures, as the scientific community adapts to the new paradigm. Kuhn's idea of incommensurability suggests that the paradigms before and after a paradigm shift are so different that their theories cannot be directly compared or proven within each other's frameworks. This highlights the discontinuous nature of scientific progress, which Kuhn saw as alternating phases of normal science and scientific revolutions.
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Normal science
In his book *The Structure of Scientific Revolutions*, Thomas Kuhn introduced a new way of understanding how science develops, departing from the then-dominant "Whig interpretation of scientific history", which viewed scientific progress as a steady, cumulative process. Instead, Kuhn saw science as progressing through a set of alternating "normal" and "revolutionary" phases.
During normal science, anomalies—troublesome, unexpected events that cannot be easily explained by the existing paradigm—accumulate over time. These anomalies can undermine the practice of normal science, such as by revealing inadequacies in commonly used equipment or theories. If many of the puzzles that normal science seeks to solve rely on this equipment or theory, it becomes difficult for scientists to continue with confidence until the anomaly is addressed. This widespread loss of confidence in the paradigm is what Kuhn calls a "crisis".
Crises are often resolved within the context of normal science. However, if the existing paradigm proves chronically unable to account for anomalies, the crisis may lead to a paradigm shift or scientific revolution, in which the underlying assumptions of the field are re-examined and a new paradigm is established. This new paradigm then becomes the basis for a new phase of normal science, as scientists return to solving puzzles within the new framework.
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Frequently asked questions
Kuhn defines a crisis as a period when confidence is lost in the ability of the paradigm to solve particularly worrying puzzles, or anomalies.
A paradigm is a set of universally recognized principles, methodological processes, and cultural concepts that refer to the work of the “scientific community” of a certain era.
An anomaly is a new and unexpected event that undermines the practice of normal science. For example, an anomaly might reveal inadequacies in commonly used equipment, casting doubt on the underlying theory.
After a crisis, there is a scientific revolution, or a paradigm shift, in which the underlying assumptions of the field are reexamined and a new paradigm is established.
