PDF (Español)
FLIP
Publication Date: 2012-07-01
How to Cite
Bird, A. (2012). The philosophy of history of science of Thomas Kuhn. Discusiones Filosóficas, 13(21), 167–185. Retrieved from https://revistasojs.ucaldas.edu.co/index.php/discusionesfilosoficas/article/view/678
More Citation Formats
Authors
Abstract
In this article, I argue that Kuhn was a historicist in two respects. First, he was a conservative in Mannheim's sense –tradition is important for understanding scientific change, and the evaluation of a scientific idea is relative to historical context. Secondly, Kuhn embraced determinism –there is a pattern to scientific change, akin to laws of scientific development. I show that Kuhn's determinism requires that he is an internalist about the causes of scientific change; Kuhn's internalism contrasts with the externalism that characterizes much post-Kuhnian science studies. I conclude by considering how Kuhn's historicism relates to the philosophical purposes of Kuhn's history of science.
Keywords:
References
Barnes, B. “On the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of cultural change (response to Woolgar)”. Social Studies of Science. Nov. 1981: 481-498. Print.
---. T. S. Kuhn and social science. London: Macmillan, 1982. Print.
Bird, A. “Naturalizing Kuhn”. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. Jun. 2005: 109-127. Print.
---. “Kuhn, naturalism, and the social study of science”. Kindi, V. and T. Arabatzis (eds.). Kuhn’s The Structure of scientific revolutions revisited. Abingdon: Routledge, 2012. Print.
Farley, J. “The social, political, and religious background to the work of Louis Pasteur”. Annual Reviews in Microbiology. Oct. 1978: 143-154. Print.
Farley, J. and G. Geison. “Science, politics and spontaneous generation in nineteenth-century france: The Pasteur-Pouchet debate”. Bulletin of the History of Medicine. Jul. 1974: 161-98. Print.
Kuhn, T. S. The Structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. Print.
---. “The history of science”. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Crowell Collier and Macmillan, 1968. Print.
---. “The relations between history and the history of science”. Daedalus. Jan. 1971: 271-304. Print.
---. The Essential tension. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977. Print.
Mannheim, K. Essays on sociology and social psychology. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1953. Print.
Popper, K. The Poverty of historicism. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1957. Print.
Reynolds, A. “What is historicism?” International Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Oct. 1999: 275-287.
Shapin, S. and S. Schaffer. Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the experimental life. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985. Print.
Young, R. “Malthus and the evolutionists: The common context of biological and social theory”. Past and Present. May. 1960: 109-145. Print.
---. T. S. Kuhn and social science. London: Macmillan, 1982. Print.
Bird, A. “Naturalizing Kuhn”. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. Jun. 2005: 109-127. Print.
---. “Kuhn, naturalism, and the social study of science”. Kindi, V. and T. Arabatzis (eds.). Kuhn’s The Structure of scientific revolutions revisited. Abingdon: Routledge, 2012. Print.
Farley, J. “The social, political, and religious background to the work of Louis Pasteur”. Annual Reviews in Microbiology. Oct. 1978: 143-154. Print.
Farley, J. and G. Geison. “Science, politics and spontaneous generation in nineteenth-century france: The Pasteur-Pouchet debate”. Bulletin of the History of Medicine. Jul. 1974: 161-98. Print.
Kuhn, T. S. The Structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. Print.
---. “The history of science”. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Crowell Collier and Macmillan, 1968. Print.
---. “The relations between history and the history of science”. Daedalus. Jan. 1971: 271-304. Print.
---. The Essential tension. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977. Print.
Mannheim, K. Essays on sociology and social psychology. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1953. Print.
Popper, K. The Poverty of historicism. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1957. Print.
Reynolds, A. “What is historicism?” International Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Oct. 1999: 275-287.
Shapin, S. and S. Schaffer. Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the experimental life. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985. Print.
Young, R. “Malthus and the evolutionists: The common context of biological and social theory”. Past and Present. May. 1960: 109-145. Print.
