A Review and Discussion of Thomas Kuhn's Contributions and Theories in Epistemology through his Book: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Abstract

This paper aims to present and discuss the contributions of Thomas Kuhn within the field of epistemology through his book " The Structure of the Scientific Revolutions". In this book, the author introduces a distinct view of science history, emphasizing that science does not focus on accumulation and expansion. Instead, science undergoes ruptures and revolutions owing to the emergence of a new paradigm that deviates from scientific norms agreed upon in standard science, which the scientific community was previously adopting. Additionally, it determines the criteria of how to work on understanding and dealing with phenomena and controversial issues. In Kuhn's opinion, when a new paradigm appears, it leads to the existence of a crisis in the standard science. This crisis is one of the biggest triggers of the scientific revolution. It results in a new guiding model that explains serious problems that standard science is confronting. However, Kuhn does not consider the paradigm as a scientific revolution which can change the world system, as argued by Alexander Koyré, but rather as a change in interpreting and solving the problems which the old paradigm couldn't solve them. The scientific community has acknowledged their difficulty and complexity. Therefore, we attempt to discuss Kuhn's theses in relation to the epistemology of Michel Foucault because of their intersection on the concept of paradigm. Furthermore, we compared the logic of the scientific revolution between Kuhn and Alexander Koyré for the sake of enriching the discussion and opening prospects for thinking and analysing.