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Rivera-Novoa, A. (2024). Thomas Kuhn and the problem of holism. Discusiones Filosóficas, 25(45), 67–94. https://doi.org/10.17151/difil.2024.25.45.4
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Authors
Angel Rivera-Novoa
Universidad de Antioquia
Abstract
This paper critically examines the implications of semantic holism in Thomas Kuhn’s work and its relevance to the problem of incommensurability between scientific theories. While often viewed as an ally, holism actually presents a strong challenge for Kuhn. Two variants of this problem are identified, with explicit answers provided by Kuhn for the first variant but no direct response for the second. The first variant of the problem is the impossibility of communication between speakers with doxastic differences. Kuhn proposes the adoption of the local holism thesis as a solution to the first variant. The second variant concerns the undesirable endorsement of the analytic/synthetic distinction. I contend that the solution to the second variant involves connecting meaning with problem-solving. I propose the acceptance or rejection of counterfactual statements as a criterion for establishing shared referents.
References
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Bird, A. (2002). Kuhn’s Wrong Turning. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 33(3), 443–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-3681(02)00028-6
Block, N. (1998). Holism, Mental and Semantic. En E. Craig (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (pp. 3622–3627). Routledge.
Brandom, R. (1994). Make it Explicit: Reasoning, Representing, and Discursive Commitment. Harvard University Press.
Atencia Conde-Pumpido, P. (2025). Extendiendo la Genealogía de la Semántica de Thomas Kuhn. Una Mirada a las Conferencias Lowell y la Estructura de las Revoluciones Científicas. Estudios de Filosofía, 72.https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ef.358023
Davidson, D. (2001a). On the Very Idea of Conceptual Scheme. En Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation (pp. 183–198). Oxford University Press.
Davidson, D. (2001b). The Method of Truth in Metaphysics. En Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation (pp. 199–214). Oxford University Press.
Davidson, D. (2001c). Truth and Meaning. En Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation (pp. 17–36). Oxford University Press.
Davidson, D. (2004). The Problem of Objectivity. En Problems of Rationality (pp. 3–18). Oxford University Press.
Demir, I. (2008). Incommensurabilities in the work of Thomas Kuhn.Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 39(1), 133–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2007.11.011
Flórez Quintero, D. T. (2021). La tesis de la inconmensurabilidad de teorías: Desafíos e implicaciones. Universidad de Caldas.
Fodor, J., & Lepore, E. (1992). Holism: A Shopper’s Guide. Blackwell.
Fuller, T. (2020). Confirmation and Meaning Holism Revisited. Erkenntnis, 85(6), 1379–1397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-018-0082-9
Giri, L., Cervieri, I., & Melogno, P. (Eds.). (2025). Thomas Kuhn y el cambio revolucionario: Una mirada a las conferencias Notre Dame. Universidad de la República.
Hoyningen-Huene, P. (1990). Kuhn’s Conception of Incommensurability. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 21(3), 481–492.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-3681(90)90006-T
Hoyningen-Huene, P. (1993). Reconstructing scientific revolutions: Thomas S. Kuhn’s philosophy of science. University of Chicago Press. Kitcher, P. (1978). Theories, Theorists and Theoretical Change. The Philosophical Review, 87(4), 519–547. https://doi.org/10.2307/2184458
Kuhn, T. (1961). The Function of Measurement in Modern Physical Science. En The Essential Tension (pp. 178–224). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1970a). Logic of Discovery or Psychology of Research? En The Essential Tension (pp. 266–292). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1970b). Postscript-1969. En The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Second, pp. 174–210). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1970c). Reflections on my Critics. En J. Conant & J. Haugeland (Eds.), The Road Since Structure (pp. 123–175). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1974). Second Thoughts on Paradigms. En The Essential Tension (pp. 293–319). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1976). The Relations between the History and the Philosophy of Science. En The Essential Tension (pp. 3–20). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1980). The Natures of Conceptual Change. University of Notre Dame, 1980, November 17-21. Thomas Kuhn Papers, Box: 12. Massachusetss Institute of Technology, Department of Distinctive Collections.
Kuhn, T. (1981). What Are Scientific Revolutions? En J. Conant & J. Haugeland (Eds.), The Road Since Structure (pp. 13–32). University of Chicago Press. En J. Conant & J. Haugeland (Eds.), The Road Since Structure (pp. 33–57). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1989). Possible Worlds in History of Science. En J. Conant & J. Haugeland (Eds.), The Road Since Structure (pp. 58–89). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1997). A Discussion with Thomas Kuhn. En J. Conant & J. Haugeland (Eds.), The Road Since Structure (pp. 255–323). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1999). Remarks on Incommensurabilty and Translation. En R. Favretti, G. Sandri, & R. Scazzieri (Eds.), Incommensurability and Translation: Kuhnian Perspectives on Scientific Communication and Theory Change (pp. 33–37). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Kuhn, T. (2017). Desarrollo científico y cambio de léxico. Conferencias Thalheimer (P. Melogno & H. Miguel, Eds.; L. Giri, Trad.). Facultad de Información y Comunicación, Universidad de la República Uruguay.
Kuhn, T. (2021). The Quest for Physical Theory: Problems in the Methodology of Scientific Research. Lowell Lectures (G. Reisch, Ed.). The MIT Libraries, Department of Distinctive Collections.
Kuhn, T. (2022). The Last Writings of Thomas S. Kuhn: Incommensurability in Science (B. Mladenović, Ed.). University of Chicago Press.
Malone, M. E. (1993). Kuhn reconstructed: Incommensurability without relativism. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 24(1), 69–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-3681(93)90025-F
Melogno, P. (2019). The Discovery-Justification Distinction and the New Historiography of Science: On Thomas Kuhn’s Thalheimer Lectures. HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science, 9(1), 152–178. https://doi.org/10.1086/702308
Melogno, P., & Giri, L. (2023). Towards a Genealogy of Thomas Kuhn’s Semantics. Perspectives on Science, 31(4), 385–404. https://doi.org/10.1162/posc_a_00591
Oberheim, E. (2023). Incommensurability and Metaincommensurability. Kind Change, World Change and Indirect Refutation. En L. Giri, P. Melogno, & H. Miguel (Eds.), Perspectives on Kuhn. Contemporary Approaches to the Philosophy of Thomas Kuhn (pp. 93–125). Springer.
Oberheim, E., & Hoyningen-Huene, P. (2018). The Incommensurability of Scientific Theories. En E. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/incommensurability/
Pérez Ransanz, A. R. (1999). Kuhn y el cambio científico. Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Preston, J. (2008). Kuhn’s The structure of scientific revolutions: A reader’s guide. Continuum.
Putnam, H. (1981). Reason, Truth, and History. Cambridge University Press.
Quine, W. V. (1951). Two Dogmas of Empiricism. The Philosophical Review, 60(1), 20–43. https://doi.org/10.2307/2181906
Rivera-Novoa, A. (2018). Holismo intencional y el problema de la comunicación. Ideas y Valores, 67, 61–76.
https://doi.org/10.15446/ideasyvalores.v67n4Supl.73373
Rivera-Novoa, A. (2020). Relativismo sin esquemas conceptuales. Ideas y Valores, 69(173), 77-102. https://doi.org/10.15446/ideasyvalores.
v69n173.63132
Rivera-Novoa, A. (2021). Inconmensurabilidad, intraducibilidad e intensionalidad: Una discusión entre Thomas Kuhn y Donald Davidson.
Cuadernos de Filosofía, 38, 99–117. https://doi.org/10.29393/CF38-4ARII10004
Sankey, H. (1993). Kuhn’s Changing Concept of Incommensurability.The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 44(4), 759–774. https://
doi.org/10.1093/bjps/44.4.759
Sankey, H. (2013). Methodological Incommensurability and Epistemic Relativism. Topoi, 32(1), 33–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-012-9139-6
Sankey, H., & Hoyningen-Huene, P. (2001). Introduction. En P.Hoyningen-Huene & H. Sankey (Eds.), Incommensurability and Related Matters (pp. vii–xxxiv). Kluwer.
Shan, Y. (2020). Kuhn’s “wrong turning” and legacy today. Synthese, 197(1), 381–406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-018-1740-9
Wang, X. (2002). Taxonomy, Truth-Value Gaps and Incommensurability: A Reconstruction of Kuhn’s Taxonomic Interpretation of Incommensurability. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 33(3), 465–485. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-3681(01)00039-5
Wray, K. B. (2021). Kuhn’s intellectual path: Charting The structure of scientific revolutions. Cambridge University Press.
Bird, A. (2002). Kuhn’s Wrong Turning. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 33(3), 443–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-3681(02)00028-6
Block, N. (1998). Holism, Mental and Semantic. En E. Craig (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (pp. 3622–3627). Routledge.
Brandom, R. (1994). Make it Explicit: Reasoning, Representing, and Discursive Commitment. Harvard University Press.
Atencia Conde-Pumpido, P. (2025). Extendiendo la Genealogía de la Semántica de Thomas Kuhn. Una Mirada a las Conferencias Lowell y la Estructura de las Revoluciones Científicas. Estudios de Filosofía, 72.https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ef.358023
Davidson, D. (2001a). On the Very Idea of Conceptual Scheme. En Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation (pp. 183–198). Oxford University Press.
Davidson, D. (2001b). The Method of Truth in Metaphysics. En Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation (pp. 199–214). Oxford University Press.
Davidson, D. (2001c). Truth and Meaning. En Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation (pp. 17–36). Oxford University Press.
Davidson, D. (2004). The Problem of Objectivity. En Problems of Rationality (pp. 3–18). Oxford University Press.
Demir, I. (2008). Incommensurabilities in the work of Thomas Kuhn.Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 39(1), 133–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2007.11.011
Flórez Quintero, D. T. (2021). La tesis de la inconmensurabilidad de teorías: Desafíos e implicaciones. Universidad de Caldas.
Fodor, J., & Lepore, E. (1992). Holism: A Shopper’s Guide. Blackwell.
Fuller, T. (2020). Confirmation and Meaning Holism Revisited. Erkenntnis, 85(6), 1379–1397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-018-0082-9
Giri, L., Cervieri, I., & Melogno, P. (Eds.). (2025). Thomas Kuhn y el cambio revolucionario: Una mirada a las conferencias Notre Dame. Universidad de la República.
Hoyningen-Huene, P. (1990). Kuhn’s Conception of Incommensurability. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 21(3), 481–492.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-3681(90)90006-T
Hoyningen-Huene, P. (1993). Reconstructing scientific revolutions: Thomas S. Kuhn’s philosophy of science. University of Chicago Press. Kitcher, P. (1978). Theories, Theorists and Theoretical Change. The Philosophical Review, 87(4), 519–547. https://doi.org/10.2307/2184458
Kuhn, T. (1961). The Function of Measurement in Modern Physical Science. En The Essential Tension (pp. 178–224). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1970a). Logic of Discovery or Psychology of Research? En The Essential Tension (pp. 266–292). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1970b). Postscript-1969. En The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Second, pp. 174–210). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1970c). Reflections on my Critics. En J. Conant & J. Haugeland (Eds.), The Road Since Structure (pp. 123–175). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1974). Second Thoughts on Paradigms. En The Essential Tension (pp. 293–319). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1976). The Relations between the History and the Philosophy of Science. En The Essential Tension (pp. 3–20). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1980). The Natures of Conceptual Change. University of Notre Dame, 1980, November 17-21. Thomas Kuhn Papers, Box: 12. Massachusetss Institute of Technology, Department of Distinctive Collections.
Kuhn, T. (1981). What Are Scientific Revolutions? En J. Conant & J. Haugeland (Eds.), The Road Since Structure (pp. 13–32). University of Chicago Press. En J. Conant & J. Haugeland (Eds.), The Road Since Structure (pp. 33–57). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1989). Possible Worlds in History of Science. En J. Conant & J. Haugeland (Eds.), The Road Since Structure (pp. 58–89). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1997). A Discussion with Thomas Kuhn. En J. Conant & J. Haugeland (Eds.), The Road Since Structure (pp. 255–323). University of Chicago Press.
Kuhn, T. (1999). Remarks on Incommensurabilty and Translation. En R. Favretti, G. Sandri, & R. Scazzieri (Eds.), Incommensurability and Translation: Kuhnian Perspectives on Scientific Communication and Theory Change (pp. 33–37). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Kuhn, T. (2017). Desarrollo científico y cambio de léxico. Conferencias Thalheimer (P. Melogno & H. Miguel, Eds.; L. Giri, Trad.). Facultad de Información y Comunicación, Universidad de la República Uruguay.
Kuhn, T. (2021). The Quest for Physical Theory: Problems in the Methodology of Scientific Research. Lowell Lectures (G. Reisch, Ed.). The MIT Libraries, Department of Distinctive Collections.
Kuhn, T. (2022). The Last Writings of Thomas S. Kuhn: Incommensurability in Science (B. Mladenović, Ed.). University of Chicago Press.
Malone, M. E. (1993). Kuhn reconstructed: Incommensurability without relativism. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 24(1), 69–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-3681(93)90025-F
Melogno, P. (2019). The Discovery-Justification Distinction and the New Historiography of Science: On Thomas Kuhn’s Thalheimer Lectures. HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science, 9(1), 152–178. https://doi.org/10.1086/702308
Melogno, P., & Giri, L. (2023). Towards a Genealogy of Thomas Kuhn’s Semantics. Perspectives on Science, 31(4), 385–404. https://doi.org/10.1162/posc_a_00591
Oberheim, E. (2023). Incommensurability and Metaincommensurability. Kind Change, World Change and Indirect Refutation. En L. Giri, P. Melogno, & H. Miguel (Eds.), Perspectives on Kuhn. Contemporary Approaches to the Philosophy of Thomas Kuhn (pp. 93–125). Springer.
Oberheim, E., & Hoyningen-Huene, P. (2018). The Incommensurability of Scientific Theories. En E. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/incommensurability/
Pérez Ransanz, A. R. (1999). Kuhn y el cambio científico. Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Preston, J. (2008). Kuhn’s The structure of scientific revolutions: A reader’s guide. Continuum.
Putnam, H. (1981). Reason, Truth, and History. Cambridge University Press.
Quine, W. V. (1951). Two Dogmas of Empiricism. The Philosophical Review, 60(1), 20–43. https://doi.org/10.2307/2181906
Rivera-Novoa, A. (2018). Holismo intencional y el problema de la comunicación. Ideas y Valores, 67, 61–76.
https://doi.org/10.15446/ideasyvalores.v67n4Supl.73373
Rivera-Novoa, A. (2020). Relativismo sin esquemas conceptuales. Ideas y Valores, 69(173), 77-102. https://doi.org/10.15446/ideasyvalores.
v69n173.63132
Rivera-Novoa, A. (2021). Inconmensurabilidad, intraducibilidad e intensionalidad: Una discusión entre Thomas Kuhn y Donald Davidson.
Cuadernos de Filosofía, 38, 99–117. https://doi.org/10.29393/CF38-4ARII10004
Sankey, H. (1993). Kuhn’s Changing Concept of Incommensurability.The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 44(4), 759–774. https://
doi.org/10.1093/bjps/44.4.759
Sankey, H. (2013). Methodological Incommensurability and Epistemic Relativism. Topoi, 32(1), 33–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-012-9139-6
Sankey, H., & Hoyningen-Huene, P. (2001). Introduction. En P.Hoyningen-Huene & H. Sankey (Eds.), Incommensurability and Related Matters (pp. vii–xxxiv). Kluwer.
Shan, Y. (2020). Kuhn’s “wrong turning” and legacy today. Synthese, 197(1), 381–406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-018-1740-9
Wang, X. (2002). Taxonomy, Truth-Value Gaps and Incommensurability: A Reconstruction of Kuhn’s Taxonomic Interpretation of Incommensurability. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 33(3), 465–485. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0039-3681(01)00039-5
Wray, K. B. (2021). Kuhn’s intellectual path: Charting The structure of scientific revolutions. Cambridge University Press.
