Paradigms explained : rethinking Thomas Kuhn's philosophy of science / Erich von Dietze.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Von Dietze, Erich, 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kuhn, Thomas S. (Thomas Samuel), 1922-1996.

Kuhn, Thomas S.

Paradigm (Theory of knowledge).

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Physical Description:

x, 182 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2001.

Contents:

1 The Ideal of Certainty: Foundationalism and Its Problems 9

The Emergence of Foundationalism 10

Positivism and Empiricism 11

Some Difficulties for Foundationalism 15

Popper's Developments 19

Further Difficulties for Foundationalism 25

Finding a Way Forward 26

2 Kuhn's Paradigm Theory 29

Theories as Structured Wholes 29

Paradigms 33

Normal Science 36

Crisis and Breakdown 39

The Transitional Phase 41

Acceptance of the Need for a New Paradigm 42

The Adoption of a New Paradigm 43

3 The Early Paradigm Debate 47

Key Areas of Debate over Paradigm Theory 47

Feyerabend's Methodological Anarchism 50

The Paradigms Debate 58

4 Kuhn's Clarifications, Responses and Developments 83

The Early Clarifications 83

Clarifying the Term Paradigm 85

After Paradigms 88

5 Applying Kuhn's Paradigms: An Educational Critique 111

Kuhn's Educational Focus 111

Critical Thought in Education 113

Education in Normal Science 115

Education and Revolutionary Science 118

The Role of Textbooks 121

The Role of the Teacher and the Place of the Student 124

Kuhn's Second Thoughts on Paradigm Education 126

Learning Lexicons 130

6 Coherence Theory of Evidence: A Way Forward 135

The Question of Evidence 135

A Coherence Critique of Foundationalist Epistemology 137

Science: An Adventure of the Human Spirit 141

Kuhn's Early Revisions Revisited 143

Lexicons and Coherence 148

Objections to Coherence Views 149

Quine and Evidence 151

A Coherence Theory of Evidence 153

Kuhn and Coherence 162.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [169]-178) and index.

ISBN:

0275969991

OCLC:

45835080