Quintessential Paradigms
Quintessential Paradigms
Ryan Malaty
Revolutions In Science
Quintessential Paradigms It is human nature to try to find meaning in everything, even if some parts need to be dreamed up. There always needs to be an answer, or a method of finding an answer, to all the questions that tickle Man’s spirit of inquiry. However, for every way of thinking there is a way to think otherwise. In Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions, the nature of the “paradigm” is discussed. A paradigm can be lucidly defined as a pattern, or an accepted model of something. In regards to the scientific paradigm, Kuhn illustrates in great detail how a mainstream model can be philosophically unglued. He comments on the structure of these scientific paradigms and how they are created, and shifted into new ones.
Certain scientific efforts and religious beliefs have proven to be dissonant over the examination of the heavens. From the perceptions of Ancient Greece to the studies of modern science, there has always been debate as to Earth’s locality in this universe. The Greek philosopher Aristotle [384 BC – 322 BC], who contributed amply to the maturation of human thought, theorized how the Earth resides in a fixed position while the Sun, Moon, planets and stars rotate around it. He uses “common sense” to explain the elements of motion, which is used in his contrast of motion on Earth as opposed to heavenly bodies. Where Aristotle’s system lacked in detail, Claudius Ptolemaeus [90 – 168], more widely know as Ptolemy, enforced with specifics. The Ptolemaic System also imposes Earth’s position at the center of the Universe, and illustrates the orbiting bodies that surround it. He does so in such predicted accuracy that it was predominantly accepted as the proper astronomical system. This Ptolemaic paradigm dwelled within Kuhn’s “normal science” and did so without variance. “Ptolemaic astronomy had failed to solve its problems; the time had come to give a
Ryan Malaty
Revolutions In Science
Quintessential Paradigms It is human nature to try to find meaning in everything, even if some parts need to be dreamed up. There always needs to be an answer, or a method of finding an answer, to all the questions that tickle Man’s spirit of inquiry. However, for every way of thinking there is a way to think otherwise. In Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions, the nature of the “paradigm” is discussed. A paradigm can be lucidly defined as a pattern, or an accepted model of something. In regards to the scientific paradigm, Kuhn illustrates in great detail how a mainstream model can be philosophically unglued. He comments on the structure of these scientific paradigms and how they are created, and shifted into new ones.
Certain scientific efforts and religious beliefs have proven to be dissonant over the examination of the heavens. From the perceptions of Ancient Greece to the studies of modern science, there has always been debate as to Earth’s locality in this universe. The Greek philosopher Aristotle [384 BC – 322 BC], who contributed amply to the maturation of human thought, theorized how the Earth resides in a fixed position while the Sun, Moon, planets and stars rotate around it. He uses “common sense” to explain the elements of motion, which is used in his contrast of motion on Earth as opposed to heavenly bodies. Where Aristotle’s system lacked in detail, Claudius Ptolemaeus [90 – 168], more widely know as Ptolemy, enforced with specifics. The Ptolemaic System also imposes Earth’s position at the center of the Universe, and illustrates the orbiting bodies that surround it. He does so in such predicted accuracy that it was predominantly accepted as the proper astronomical system. This Ptolemaic paradigm dwelled within Kuhn’s “normal science” and did so without variance. “Ptolemaic astronomy had failed to solve its problems; the time had come to give a
Cited: Cohen, I. B. (1985). Revolution in Science. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Pres.