Postmodern Philosophy on Thomas Kuhn - Essay Example

Running Heading: CRITIQUE OF A POSTMODERN PHILOSOPHY ON THOMAS KUHN Critique of a Postmodern Philosophy on Thomas Kuhn of Instructor] [Course] Critique of a Postmodern Philosophy on Thomas Kuhn Thomas Kuhn Born in 1922, Thomas Samuel Kuhn shook the world of science with, "The Structure of Science Revolutions". Of the few books and several articles he published, this particular book he wrote during his tenure as a graduate student at Harvard, and it was because of the thirteen chapters of this very book that Thomas Kuhn was realized as the man who reshaped the way the science is approached. Thomas Kuhn became a Harvard graduate in 1943, and continued to finish off his formal studies with his Ph.D. in 1949. Being the intellectual that he was, he did not go unnoticed and from 1949 to 1956, he taught in Harvard upon the invitation of the then University President, James Conant. He later taught at the University of California and it was during his tenure in the same capacity that he published his book "The Structure of Science Revolution", which soon became the jewel in his crown. More than a million copies of Thomas Kuhns book have been published in a wide variety of languages. His books are regarderded as nothing less than sacred by students of scientific history and knowledge(The Tech - Online Edition, 1996). Before we begin on the very philosophy that his books contained and later became the purpose of his life as well as his identity, it is important to note here that Kuhn was a staunch believer that the science of current day holds more potential within it than it chooses to realize. Thomas Kuhn's Philosophy The controversy raised by Kuhn was his opinion that if the currently available knowledge is the judge of what we desire, we can hardly expect to achieve anything except for what we had in mind when we set out to achieve it. In other words, inferences can be made and new techniques can be derived from old ones, but the expectation to come across new discoveries will come to no consequence in such situations. Rather Thomas Kuhn argued that if the frame of reference is based on the currently available knowledge, the unless the thinking process is set outside of the current frame, no new advancements can be made except for the ones we already have in front of us when we set out to achieve them. In other words, man sets out to prove only what he already knows and does not add anything to his knowledge but rather continues to dwell in the frame of mind he has built for himself using the knowledge he already possesses. The Paradigm Shift Concept in Kuhn's terms The Paradigm, in the terms of Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", refers to the frame of thought that the scientists of today choose to adopt and the slowly evolving process that comprises of inventions and discoveries as the need for these developments arises. This process continues until a need arises that is not satisfied by any of the present knowledge that science has accumulated, and a new school of thought has to be established altogether to replace the old one if the need has to be met. It is important to note here that before Kuhn, science was considered to be a very generally evolving process and any discoveries and inventions were considered nothing else than an addition in the reservoir of knowledge that science had accumulated to that point. Kuhn however was of the opinion that science does not simply move on but from time to time, undergoes episodic transformations. These episodic transformations do not merely add to the accumulated knowledge but serve to change the very lens through which the science of that time frame is viewed. A real life example of Kuhn's philosophy in play An example of this fact can be seen in how mans knowledge of the world within which he lives evolved over time. For a period of time, man considered the world to be flat and that the earth was the center of our solar system. After having lived for centuries with this belief, man finally realized that his planet was not flat and neither was his planet the center of his solar system. Albeit man did live for centuries believing that the world was flat and generation after generation continued to be taught and accept the fact that the earth was the center of his solar system. All the scientific calculations and research done in this dimension was centered on the already believed knowledge that the world was flat and hence every calculation let do it (Forster, 1998). Not only that but until Columbus made his ground breaking mistake and established that the world was round did the educated masses choose to change their beliefs about the planet. Kuhn's philosophy can be proven very simply using modern day scientific techniques as well. In modern day mathematics, when deriving one equation from another, a number of assumptions are made and constants are determined to guide the calculations. It is the establishment, acceptance and application of these very constants that keeps us within out frame of knowledge and our research brings us back to a part of what we have begun with. In the real life example discussed earlier, voyagers refused to travel in a direction where they thought the surface of the world would end and they would fall off the side into the abyss of space. By doing so, they established constants around their knowledge. While trusting the outcomes of the actions directed by the same constants to be proof of the validity of the constants. However, as we also observed, change does come along, and when the frame of constants shifts, all formerly performed calculation and scientific research is refreshed with new opportunities and new foundations to work upon. Reviewing the example that we studied earlier, once the planet had been proven to be spherical, new avenues for trade opened and man saw a new dimension to every field of life he had chosen to step in to (Native Americans.com, 2007). From Kuhn's philosophy, it is clear that sometimes it takes a critical nature of circumstance to invoke a transformation. We may fear the transformation for fear of not knowing what to expect, but once we become familiar with it, we find ourselves moving towards the second transformation, unaware of what it will bring to us once more (Kuhn, 1996). Thomas Kuhn and the Paradigm Shift in Science Thomas Kuhn's philosophy can best be understood through the book that became his identity, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", in which he argues about the nature in which science progresses. Thomas Kuhn is of the opinion that the nature of the progress of science is not linear, but undergoes drastic and revolutionary changes periodically. These changes are what Thomas Kuhn refers to as "Paradigm Shifts". In a paradigm shift, man comes across more than a scientific development, in fact the entire perspective through which man looks at the world around him changes. A very minor yet prominent example of a paradigm shift can be seen in how scientists chose to develop and adopt Quantum Physics when it became impossible to explain the mechanics of atomic particles. After decades of research in trying to explain the nature of mechanics of particles of atomic size, the only break through the scientific community managed to stumble upon was in the form of having to change the entire frame of constants with which it was viewing the situation. Hence going to prove that sometimes, all that man knows is not enough to solve a problem, and when there is no way out except for a change, a Paradigm Shift occurs. My opinions regarding Thomas Kuhn's Theory Judging by the area of effectiveness that Thomas Kuhn's philosophy spans, it is safe to say that time has proven Thomas Kuhn to be correct. Also, when turning back into the pages of the evolution that man has gone through, one can clearly see that even though Kuhn's concept of the Paradigm Shift came to us in his book in the recent century, man had been undergoing Paradigm Shifts since his inception. Also, critics argue that since the knowledge of the existence of a Paradigm Shift is almost as if one of the secrets of nature had been revealed to man, science continues to go through them even more rapidly as the scientific community encourages ideas that inspire conflicting debates upon commonly accepted ideologies so as to increase the likelihood of undergoing another Paradigm Shift. However one must admit that a Paradigm Shift does not occur ever so commonly and the very occurrence of a Paradigm Shift is observed only when the need for one becomes so crucial that no other option remains but to recreate the very frame of constants that are used as reference if the need is to be fulfilled. For instance history does not show a Paradigm Shift ever occurring intentionally; rather it has been circumstances that have pushed men into stumbling upon realities whose existence he had never been aware of before. Conclusion The significance of the philosophy presented by Thomas Kuhn can be seen in the fact that it not only served to explain the history of the evolution of science itself, but also paved the way for coming generations of scientists. The act of changing the very constants that scientific beliefs revolve around were once frowned upon, but now thanks to Kuhn's contribution to science, young scientists stepping into their respective fields are encouraged to think out of the box and explore new ideas and concepts no matter how ridiculous they may sound from the perspective of the current day. Having given the world food for thought, Thomas Kuhn departed from the world in the late 1960's. Thomas Kuhn's concept introduced the idea of the revolutionary element, the element that brought about the Paradigm Shift. The beauty of this theory is that this theory in itself was a Paradigm Shift for the bent of mind that modern day science is now approached with. Works Cited Forster, M. (1998, March 19). Guide to Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Retrieved January 15, 2009, from The University of Wisconsin-Madison Philosophy Department: http://philosophy.wisc.edu/Forster/220/kuhn.htm Kuhn, T. (1996). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. University Of Chicago Press. Native Americans.com. (2007). Christopher Columbus, The Landing of Christopher Columbus 1492. Retrieved January 15, 2009, from NativeAmericans.com: http://www.nativeamericans.com/ChristopherColumbus.htm The Tech - Online Edition. (1996, June). Thomas S. Kuhn - The Tech. Retrieved January 16, 2009, from The Tech - Online Edition: http://tech.mit.edu/V116/N28/kuhn.28n.html Read More