Paradigm Shift Example - Thomas Kuhn
Philosophy of Science
Mid-term Essay
Professor: Dr. Herman C.D.G. de Regt
By: V. V. Budiman
ANR: 238183
Word count: 1264
Disciplines, or the so-called rules in determining what science is and what is not has made it difficult for economics to be considered as science. But how reliable are the rules in determining what is science and what is not? If one is forced to use verifiability or falsifiability, then one can conclude that International Business Administration (IBA) is indeed not science. On the other hand, the theories proposed by Thomas Kuhn, which was more of a historian of science than a philosopher of science, can oppose the criteria that considered economics as a non-science. In this essay, the philosophy of Kuhn will be discussed further, including the extent on how his theories fit to the world of IBA, as well as an illustration from the business field in relation to the theory.
Kuhn believed that history is indeed very important in understanding science. He claimed that in order to understand science, one has to look into the history of science. He also had a theory, which was written in the book of Structure of Scientific Revolutions, called the Paradigm Shift. Paradigm is a sum of accepted metaphysical assumptions, theories, methodologies, manuals and techniques. In Kuhn’s theory there are three periods of science, which are Normal science, Crisis and Scientific Revolution. Normal science is the continuation of pre-scientific era that formed many opinions, but had no consensus or general agreement about how one should do to gather information regarding a phenomenon, and no generally accepted background information. After a general agreement on how a phenomenon is reached, then the Normal science period begin. In this period, scientists will try to solve the paradigm that was not finished or had minor problems. When the scientists can’t deal with too many anomalies, the situation goes into Crisis period. To solve the crisis, people could either
Mid-term Essay
Professor: Dr. Herman C.D.G. de Regt
By: V. V. Budiman
ANR: 238183
Word count: 1264
Disciplines, or the so-called rules in determining what science is and what is not has made it difficult for economics to be considered as science. But how reliable are the rules in determining what is science and what is not? If one is forced to use verifiability or falsifiability, then one can conclude that International Business Administration (IBA) is indeed not science. On the other hand, the theories proposed by Thomas Kuhn, which was more of a historian of science than a philosopher of science, can oppose the criteria that considered economics as a non-science. In this essay, the philosophy of Kuhn will be discussed further, including the extent on how his theories fit to the world of IBA, as well as an illustration from the business field in relation to the theory.
Kuhn believed that history is indeed very important in understanding science. He claimed that in order to understand science, one has to look into the history of science. He also had a theory, which was written in the book of Structure of Scientific Revolutions, called the Paradigm Shift. Paradigm is a sum of accepted metaphysical assumptions, theories, methodologies, manuals and techniques. In Kuhn’s theory there are three periods of science, which are Normal science, Crisis and Scientific Revolution. Normal science is the continuation of pre-scientific era that formed many opinions, but had no consensus or general agreement about how one should do to gather information regarding a phenomenon, and no generally accepted background information. After a general agreement on how a phenomenon is reached, then the Normal science period begin. In this period, scientists will try to solve the paradigm that was not finished or had minor problems. When the scientists can’t deal with too many anomalies, the situation goes into Crisis period. To solve the crisis, people could either