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On Kuhn's Paradigm And The Programme Of Sociology Of Scientific Knowledge

Posted on:2009-11-21Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:J N SunFull Text:PDF
GTID:2120360242982685Subject:Philosophy of science and technology
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Science was once considered as developing by the addition of new truths to the stock of old truths, or the increasing approximation of theories to the truth, and the image of it also connected with objectivity, rationality, the truth. However, with the publishment of Tomas Samuel Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, this kind of idea was totally questioned. Kuhn's account of the development of science held that the development of science was not like a linear accumulation and science enjoys periods of stable growth punctuated by revisionary revolutions.Based on the research of scientific history, Kuhn raised a new model of scientific development : pre-science(no paradigm)→normal science (established paradigm)→scientific revolution (paradigm shaken)→new normal science (the establishment of a new paradigm). Kuhn describes normal science as'puzzle-solving'. While this term suggests that normal science is not dramatic, and that the puzzle itself and its methods of solution will have a high degree of familiarity. A puzzle-solver is not entering completely uncharted territory. Because its puzzles and their solutions are familiar and relatively straightforward, normal science can expect to accumulate a growing stock of puzzle-solutions. Revolutionary science, however, is not cumulative in that, according to Kuhn, scientific revolutions involve a revision to existing scientific belief or practice. The scientists finally abandoned the original paradigm and replaced a new one.Science entered a new normal period.Because of the incommensurabilty between different paradigms, Kuhn claimed that there are not permanent, theory-independent rules to act as standards of assessment. Scientific community's choice in paradigms was influenced by social, psychological and historical factors. The Paradigm theories were considered as irrational and including relative tendency, which destroied the traditional image of science in people's mind.It caused a great shock in the field of philosophy, and got strong criticism by positivists.Kuhn himself was labeled as"science murderer".However, Kuhn's influence outside of professional philosophy of science may have been even greater than it was within it. The social sciences in particular took up Kuhn with enthusiasm. The sociologists thought Kuhn provided them a method that they could follow: by creating their own paradigm, sociology will be able to become one kind of science as physics. The scientific sociology has paved the way to put forward a set of scientific theory of social construction of knowledge,and then entered the scientific knowledge sociological research.Kuhn's philosophy mainly manifests to the scientific knowledge sociology's influence in: (1) The paradigm theory has provided the relativism epistemology premise for the sociology of scientific knowledge. (2) The paradigm theory has provided the historical principle methodology enlightenment for the sociology of scientific knowledge. (3) The paradigm theory has provided one kind of interdiscipline working pattern for the sociology of scientific knowledge. The latter pushed Kun's relativism to the extreme, and the manner is thorougher, theory more clarified.The sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK), which developed from the traditional knowledge sociology and the scientific sociology, has abandoned the the world view of positivism, denied that the scientific fact was about the external real world fact, and repelled the rationality, the objectivity, truth as well as other concepts held by the traditional philosophy, in order to overthrow"the standard"scientific knowledge view in the knowledge and the scientific sociology. The scientific knowledge sociology is famous by its four principles of stronge programme: (1) casuality principle. Namely must expresses the causal relation to scientific knowledge's research, must care that these cause the faith and each kind of knowledge condition. (2) fairness principle. Namely the knowledge sociology must treat the truth and the error, the rationality either the non-rationality, the success or the defeat fairly. (3) symmetrical principle. Namely the knowledge sociology in the showing style must be symmetrical. The identical type's reason must already be possible to show the true faith, may also explain the false faith. (4) self-examination principle. Namely as said in principle that the knowledge sociology's each kind of showing pattern must be able to utilize in its oneself. Since the beginning of 80s , SSK successfully completely had established its own mainstream status in the scientific society research area. The SSK's work, means that the science liberates from logic positivism's ivory tower.It causes the scientific philosophy to move toward the science practice, the trend life, from macroscopic moves toward the experience case narrative the benefit, the region culture and the sex analysis.All in all, Kuhn's scientific revolution view describled the paradigm shift in revolution, which basically belongs to the ideaistic revolution, whether this kind of new revolutionary view is suitable to all scientific revolutions in the science history needs further discuss. But we must say that Kuhn's paradigm theory has its theory rationality, therefore we cannot deny that its value. In the Kuhn's philosophy indeed contains certain non-rational factor and the relativism tendency, these non-rational factors were proved by Kuhn with facts,.We cannot say that is the subjective unseemly behavior recklessly. Just this non-rationality causes science's image of the pure rationality, the objectivity, the truth break in people's mind. However SSK carried Kuhn's theory in a very radical way.They regard the science as completely non-objective, non-truthful, only stressed the significance of the social factor, moved toward a thorough relativism, obviously lead to another extreme opposite to logic positivism. No wonder Kuhn did not accept the SSK's viewpoint, even performed to reprimand.
Keywords/Search Tags:Scientific
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