Abstract

The intertheoretic competition hypothesis (the rejection of a theory not only requires the comparison of the theory with nature but also the acceptance of an alternative theory) is a dogma of contemporary philosophy of science. I first attempt to reconstruct Thomas Kuhn's argument for the view. A central exegetical claim is that his argument rests on the Duhemian Thesis. I then show that the argument is inconclusive and suggest that there are vivid historical counterexamples to the competition hypothesis.