Central and East European
Society for Phenomenology

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200641

Paradigms

Theodore Kisiel

pp. 87-110

Abstract

The periodization of these chronicles separates, to the degree to which it is possible to specify such matters, two distinct periods in the history of the philosophy of science. For, by 1966, philosophers of science were taking cognizance of a rapidly spreading revolt, perhaps even a revolution, in their midst. Under attack were the very foundations of the dominant philosophy in the field, logical positivism. It became the fashion to refer, with varying degrees of respect, to this dominant perspective in the implied past tense as the 'standard", "orthodox", and "received" view. In place of the logical and positivist image of science viewed as a formal mapping of observed fact, the revisionists were proposing a more historical image, which paid more attention to science as a process of ongoing research taking place in a changing problem situation which is interpreted and resolved according to the resources of a particular historical and linguistic context. The aim was to shift the philosophical center of gravity from a concern with the structure of finished theories to the activities which come into play in unfinished research sciences, in brief, from product to process.

Publication details

Published in:

Fløistad Guttorm (1982) La philosophie contemporaine / Contemporary philosophy: chroniques nouvelles / a new survey. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 87-110

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-010-9940-0_4

Full citation:

Kisiel Theodore (1982) „Paradigms“, In: G. Fløistad (ed.), La philosophie contemporaine / Contemporary philosophy, Dordrecht, Springer, 87–110.