PARADIGM SHIFTS IN

HISTORY
Science Technology and Society

Week 2-3
Learning Goals and Standard
At the end of the lessons the learners will able to:
• Define what is Paradigm ,the function of paradigm shift and its
important

• Discuss what is Kuhn’s Paradigm

• Explain what is Kuhn’s Cycle

What is Paradigm
• A typical example or pattern of something.
• A distinct set of concepts or thought patterns,
including theories, research methods, postulates,
and standards for what constitutes legitimate
contributions to a field.
 WHAT IS A PARADIGM SHIFT?
• A fundamental change in approach or
underlying assumptions.
• A concept identified by the American
physicist and
• philosopher Thomas Kuhn
• A fundamental change in the basic
concepts and experimental practices of a
scientific discipline. Kuhn presented his
notion of a paradigm shift in his
influential book The Structure of
Scientific Revolutions (1962).
WHY ARE PARADIGM SHIFTS
IMPORTANT?
• Paradigm shift is another
expression for more significant
changes within belief systems.
• Within philosophy of science this
concept is sometimes considered
important and is sometimes given
great attention within education.
KUHN'S PARADIGM
Thomas Samuel Kuhn (/kuːn/; July
18, 1922 –
June 17, 1996) was an American
physicist, historian and philosopher
of science whose controversial 1962
book The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions was
influential in both academic and
popular circles,
THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC
REVOLUTIONS
• a book about the history of science by the
philosopher Thomas S. Kuhn.
• its publication was a landmark event in the
history, philosophy, and sociology of
scientific knowledge.
THE KUHN CYCLE
A simple cycle of progress described by Thomas
Kuhn in 1962 in his seminal work The Structure
of Scientific Revolutions.
In Structure Kuhn challenged the world's current
conception of science, which was that it was a
steady progression of the accumulation of new
ideas.
KUHN’S PARADIGM
• Science advanced the most by occasional revolutionary explosions of new
knowledge, each revolution triggered by introduction of new ways of
thought so large they must be called new paradigms.
• Kuhn argues that paradigms change in scientific revolutions. Scientists go
through a crisis and transition to a new paradigm, a new way of seeing the
world. It is not possible to compare paradigms and it is not possible to say
whether one is more right than the other.
• Kuhn argues that science is not moved by a rational process but more by a
social unity. In contrast with Popper then Kuhn presents a descriptive
theory in which Kuhn try to observe the factual scientific fields in order to
understand how they function in practice.
THE STEPS OF THE KUHN CYCLE
Pre Science
• Also called the pre- paradigm stage,
• The pre-step to the main Kuhn
Cycle. In Prescience there is not yet
a model of understanding (the field's
paradigm) mature enough to solve
the field's main problems.
• The field has no workable paradigm
to successfully guide its work.
NORMAL SCIENCE

 identified and elaborated on by Thomas

Samuel Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions, is the regular work of
scientists theorizing, observing, and
experimenting within a settled paradigm or
explanatory framework.
 where the field has a scientifically based
model of understanding (a paradigm) that
works.
MODEL DRIFT
• The model of
understanding starts to
drift, due to
accumulation of
anomalies, and
phenomenon, the model
cannot explain.
MODEL CRISIS

 the most important step of them all in the

Kuhn Cycle.
 The Model Drift becomes so excessive the
model is broken. It can no longer serve as
a reliable guide to problem solving.
Attempts to patch the model up to make it
work fail. The field is in anguish.
MODEL REVOLUTION
• Begins when serious candidates for a
new model emerge. It's a revolution
because the new model is so
radically different from the old one.
• A field's model of understanding is
undergoing revolutionary change.
The old model failed, which caused
the Model Crisis step. The Model
Revolution step begins when one or
more competing new models
emerge from the crisis.
PARADIGM CHANGE
• Also called a paradigm shift,
• Earlier steps have created the new model of
understanding (the new paradigm).
• In the Paradigm Change step the new
paradigm is taught to newcomers to the
field, as well as to those already in it. When
the new paradigm becomes the generally
accepted guide to one's work, the step is
complete. The field is now back to the
Normal Science step and a Kuhn Cycle is
complete.
Natural Science
 Darwin’s theory of evolution
 Plate Tectonics— create a
physical model of the
Earth's structure
 Albert Einstein’s space-time is
not fixed or objective—
subject to observer’s state of
motion relative to other object.
HUMAN SCIENCES
• Psychology: Sigmund Freud—
we are not fully in control of
our behavior—a subconscious
part operate
• Economics— government
intervention in economy is
now accepted.
THE ARTS
• The Realist paradigm: the purpose of art is to copy reality.
• Shakespeare's impact on drama / theater
• Jazz & rock revolutionizing music
Integration

How do you see yourself in

the future? In what way your
paradigm help you in seeing
your future?
Assessment

Give some Historical Events that uses Kuhn’s

Paradigm as a guide
Reference
• http://changingminds.org/explanations/research/articles/kuhn
• _paradigm.htm
• https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/Kuhn.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Structure_of_Scientific_Re
volutions#/media/File:Structure-of-scientific-rev
• http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/KuhnCycle.htm
• http://noteshelf.org/thomas-kuhn-paradigm-theory/
• http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/Pre-science.htm
• http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/KuhnCycle.htm
• http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/ModelCrisis.htm
• http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/ModelRevolution.htm