1st Edition

An Analysis of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

By Jo Hedesan, Joseph Tendler Copyright 2017
    128 Pages
    by Macat Library

    128 Pages
    by Macat Library

    Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions can be seen, without exaggeration, as a landmark text in intellectual history.

    In his analysis of shifts in scientific thinking, Kuhn questioned the prevailing view that science was an unbroken progression towards the truth. Progress was actually made, he argued, via "paradigm shifts", meaning that evidence that existing scientific models are flawed slowly accumulates – in the face, at first, of opposition and doubt – until it finally results in a crisis that forces the development of a new model. This development, in turn, produces a period of rapid change – "extraordinary science," Kuhn terms it – before an eventual return to "normal science" begins the process whereby the whole cycle eventually repeats itself.

    This portrayal of science as the product of successive revolutions was the product of rigorous but imaginative critical thinking. It was at odds with science’s self-image as a set of disciplines that constantly evolve and progress via the process of building on existing knowledge. Kuhn’s highly creative re-imagining of that image has proved enduringly influential – and is the direct product of the author’s ability to produce a novel explanation for existing evidence and to redefine issues so as to see them in new ways.

    Ways in to the Text 

    Who was Thomas Kuhn? 

    What does The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Say? 

    Why does The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Matter? 

    Section 1: Influences  

    Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context  

    Module 2: Academic Context 

    Module 3: The Problem 

    Module 4: The Author's Contribution 

    Section 2: Ideas  

    Module 5: Main Ideas 

    Module 6: Secondary Ideas  

    Module 7: Achievement  

    Module 8: Place in the Author's Work 

    Section 3: Impact 

    Module 9: The First Responses 

    Module 10: The Evolving Debate 

    Module 11: Impact and Influence Today 

    Module 12: Where Next? 

    Glossary of Terms 

    People Mentioned in the Text 

    Works Cited

    Biography

    Dr Jo Hedesan is a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow in Medical History and Humanities at the University of Oxford.

    Dr Joseph Tendler received his PhD from the University of St Andrews. He is the author of Opponents of the Annales School.