Is Kuhn’s “World Change through Revolutions” Comprehensible?

Epistemology and Philosophy of Science 59 (4):55-72 (2022)
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Abstract

Kuhn’s talk of “world change through revolutions” has mostly been met with perplexity. What is it really that Kuhn wants to express in this strange way? I will first review what Kuhn exactly says on this topic. Next, I show that the world change talk is at least not inconsistent and has some initial plausibility. Then I will discuss whether “world change through revolutions” should be replaced by “change of world view”. This will show that “world change through revolutions” is motivated by a strictly non-presentist historiographic stance. However, Kuhn’s intended message can also be expressed in a philosophically much less provocative way.

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Paul Hoyningen-Huene
Universität Hannover

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