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Descendant of a [[Jewish]] family, Kuhn was born in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]] to Samuel L. Kuhn, an industrial engineer, and Minette Stroock Kuhn. He obtained his bachelor's degree in [[physics]] from [[Harvard University]] in [[1943]], his master's in [[1946]] and Ph.D. in [[1949]], and taught a course in the history of science there from [[1948]] until [[1956]] at the suggestion of Harvard president [[James Conant]]. After leaving Harvard, Kuhn taught at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in both the philosophy department and the history department, being named Professor of the [[History of Science]] in [[1961]]. In [[1964]] he joined [[Princeton University]] as the M. Taylor Pyne Professor of Philosophy and History of Science. In [[1979]] he joined the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) as the [[Laurance Rockefeller|Laurance S. Rockefeller]] Professor of Philosophy, remaining there until [[1991]]. |
Descendant of a [[Jewish]] family, Kuhn was born in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]] to Samuel L. Kuhn, an industrial engineer, and Minette Stroock Kuhn. He obtained his bachelor's degree in [[physics]] from [[Harvard University]] in [[1943]], his master's in [[1946]] and Ph.D. in [[1949]], and taught a course in the history of science there from [[1948]] until [[1956]] at the suggestion of Harvard president [[James Conant]]. After leaving Harvard, Kuhn taught at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in both the philosophy department and the history department, being named Professor of the [[History of Science]] in [[1961]]. In [[1964]] he joined [[Princeton University]] as the M. Taylor Pyne Professor of Philosophy and History of Science. In [[1979]] he joined the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) as the [[Laurance Rockefeller|Laurance S. Rockefeller]] Professor of Philosophy, remaining there until [[1991]]. |
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He is most famous for his book ''[[The Structure of Scientific Revolutions]]'' (SSR) ([[1962]]) in which he presented the idea that science does not evolve gradually toward truth, but instead undergoes periodic revolutions which he calls "[[paradigm shift]]s." The enormous impact of Kuhn's work can be measured in the revolution it brought about even in the ''vocabulary'' of the history of science: besides "paradigm shifts," Kuhn raised the word "[[paradigm]]" itself from a term used in certain forms of [[linguistics]] to its current broader meaning, coined the term "[[normal science]]" to refer to the relatively routine, day-to-day work of scientists working within a paradigm, and was largely responsible for the use of the term "[[Paradigm shift|scientific revolutions]]" in the plural, taking place at widely different periods of time in the different disciplines as against a single "Scientific Revolution" in the late [[Renaissance]]. |
He is most famous for his book ''[[The Structure of Scientific Revolutions]]'' (SSR) ([[1962]]) in which he presented the idea that science does not evolve gradually toward truth, but instead undergoes periodic revolutions which he calls "[[paradigm shift]]s." The enormous impact of Kuhn's work can be measured in the revolution it brought about even in the ''vocabulary'' of the history of science: besides "paradigm shifts," Kuhn raised the word "[[paradigm]]" itself from a term used in certain forms of [[linguistics]] to its current broader meaning, coined the term "[[normal science]]" to refer to the relatively routine, day-to-day work of scientists working within a paradigm, and was largely responsible for the use of the term "[[Paradigm shift|scientific revolutions]]" in the plural, taking place at widely different periods of time in the different disciplines as against a single "Scientific Revolution" in the late [[Renaissance]]. |
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Kuhn also stressed the importance of [[incommensurability]] among paradigms, meaning that science from one paradigm cannot have a greater or lesser truth-value than science from another. The act of science to Kuhn was no more than problem solving within a paradigm, and each successive paradigm led not to more verisimilitude ("truth-likeness"), but instead merely perpetuated the field of science. According to Kuhn, theories in in the next paradigm, whether it begins in five years or five-hundred years, will be no more truth-like than the theories we have now; they will, in fact, be incommensurable. |
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These ideas of a lack of an absolute truth to be gathered from the world via empirical observations spurred the thoughts of many postmodern [[deconstructionists]], even though Kuhn himself never associated himself with that branch of philosophy. |
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While compelling, Kuhn's theory has an inherent flaw, for if it is in fact taken as "true," it is merely a product of its paradigm and nothing more, therefore rendering it meaningless as anything more than "just" a theory (the problem of reflexivity). Also, taking the theory as true would imply that truth exists in the universe, an idea against which Kuhn argued. |
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Kuhn was named a Guggenheim Fellow in [[1954]], and in [[1982]] was awarded the [[George Sarton]] Medal in the [[History of Science]]. He was also awarded numerous honorary doctorates. |
Kuhn was named a Guggenheim Fellow in [[1954]], and in [[1982]] was awarded the [[George Sarton]] Medal in the [[History of Science]]. He was also awarded numerous honorary doctorates. |
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Revision as of 06:37, 26 October 2005
Thomas Samuel Kuhn (July 18, 1922 – June 17, 1996) was an American intellectual who wrote extensively on the history of science and developed several important notions in the philosophy of science.
Descendant of a Jewish family, Kuhn was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to Samuel L. Kuhn, an industrial engineer, and Minette Stroock Kuhn. He obtained his bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1943, his master's in 1946 and Ph.D. in 1949, and taught a course in the history of science there from 1948 until 1956 at the suggestion of Harvard president James Conant. After leaving Harvard, Kuhn taught at the University of California, Berkeley in both the philosophy department and the history department, being named Professor of the History of Science in 1961. In 1964 he joined Princeton University as the M. Taylor Pyne Professor of Philosophy and History of Science. In 1979 he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Philosophy, remaining there until 1991.
He is most famous for his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (SSR) (1962) in which he presented the idea that science does not evolve gradually toward truth, but instead undergoes periodic revolutions which he calls "paradigm shifts." The enormous impact of Kuhn's work can be measured in the revolution it brought about even in the vocabulary of the history of science: besides "paradigm shifts," Kuhn raised the word "paradigm" itself from a term used in certain forms of linguistics to its current broader meaning, coined the term "normal science" to refer to the relatively routine, day-to-day work of scientists working within a paradigm, and was largely responsible for the use of the term "scientific revolutions" in the plural, taking place at widely different periods of time in the different disciplines as against a single "Scientific Revolution" in the late Renaissance.
Kuhn also stressed the importance of incommensurability among paradigms, meaning that science from one paradigm cannot have a greater or lesser truth-value than science from another. The act of science to Kuhn was no more than problem solving within a paradigm, and each successive paradigm led not to more verisimilitude ("truth-likeness"), but instead merely perpetuated the field of science. According to Kuhn, theories in in the next paradigm, whether it begins in five years or five-hundred years, will be no more truth-like than the theories we have now; they will, in fact, be incommensurable.
These ideas of a lack of an absolute truth to be gathered from the world via empirical observations spurred the thoughts of many postmodern deconstructionists, even though Kuhn himself never associated himself with that branch of philosophy.
While compelling, Kuhn's theory has an inherent flaw, for if it is in fact taken as "true," it is merely a product of its paradigm and nothing more, therefore rendering it meaningless as anything more than "just" a theory (the problem of reflexivity). Also, taking the theory as true would imply that truth exists in the universe, an idea against which Kuhn argued.
Kuhn was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 1954, and in 1982 was awarded the George Sarton Medal in the History of Science. He was also awarded numerous honorary doctorates.
He suffered cancer of the bronchial tubes for the last two years of his life and died Monday June 17, 1996. He was survived by his wife Jehane R. Kuhn, his ex-wife Kathryn Muhs Kuhn, and their three children, Sarah, Elizabeth and Nathaniel.
Bibliography
- The Copernican Revolution (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1957)
- The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962) (ISBN 0226458083)
- The Essential Tension: Selected Studies in Scientific Tradition and Change (1977)
- Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity, 1894-1912 (Chicago, 1987) (ISBN 0226458008)
- The Road Since Structure: Philosophical Essays, 1970-1993 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000) (ISBN 0226457982)
See also
External links
- Thomas Kuhn (Biography, Outline of Structure of Scientific Revolutions)
- Thomas Kuhn, 73; Devised Science Paradigm (obituary by Lawrence Van Gelder, New York Times, 19 June 1996)
- Thomas S. Kuhn (obituary, The Tech p9 vol 116 no 28, 26 June 1996)
- Thomas Kuhn at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy