The Last Writings of Thomas S. Kuhn: Incommensurability in Science

352 Pages·2022·1.781 MB·English

Copyright 2022. University of Chicago Press.All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law. EAABNcS:cC oO3u 3nP0tu0:b7 l5si43s 1h;2i 2nT5gh5 o7:m. amesaB ioSno..k e KhCuoohslntl,e cBtoijoann a( EMBlSaCdOehnoosvti)c .-; pTrhien tLeads to nW r1i2t/i1n/g2s0 2o2f 5T:h5o8m aPsM Sv.i aK uUhNnI V:E RISnIcToYm mOeFn sYuOrRaKbility in Science
The Last Writings of Thomas S. Kuhn
EBSCOhost - printed on 12/1/2022 5:58 PM via UNIVERSITY OF YORK. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use
EBSCOhost - printed on 12/1/2022 5:58 PM via UNIVERSITY OF YORK. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
T h e L asT W r i T i n g s
o f T h o m as s . Ku h n
Incommensurability in Science
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Thomas S. Kuhn
Edited by Bojana Mladenović
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
EBSCOhost - printed on 12/1/2022 5:58 PM via UNIVERSITY OF YORK. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2022 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations
in critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the University of
Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2022
Printed in the United States of America
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 1 2 3 4 5
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 82274- 7 (cloth)
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 51630- 1 (e- book)
doi: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226516301.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kuhn, Thomas S., author. | Mladenović, Bojana, editor,
writer of introduction.
Title: The last writings of Thomas S. Kuhn : incommensurability in science /
edited with an introduction by Bojana Mladenović.
Description: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2022. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2022006350 | isbn 9780226822747 (cloth) |
isbn 9780226516301 (ebook)
Subjects: lcsh: Science—Philosophy. | Science—History.
Classification: lcc q175 .k938 2022 | ddc 501—dc23/eng20220421
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022006350
♾ This paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
EBSCOhost - printed on 12/1/2022 5:58 PM via UNIVERSITY OF YORK. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use
For Sarah Kuhn
EBSCOhost - printed on 12/1/2022 5:58 PM via UNIVERSITY OF YORK. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use
EBSCOhost - printed on 12/1/2022 5:58 PM via UNIVERSITY OF YORK. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use
Contents
Editor’s Acknowledgments ix
Editor’s Introduction xi
Editor’s Note xlix
: : :
thomas s. Kuhn:
scientific Knowledge as Historical Product 1
: : :
Abstract for “the Presence of Past science
(the shearman Memorial Lectures)” 19
: : :
thomas s. Kuhn: the Presence of Past science
(the shearman Memorial Lectures) 23
LeCture I: regAInIng tHe PAst 27
LeCture II: PortrAyIng tHe PAst 50
LeCture III: eMbodyIng tHe PAst 71
EBSCOhost - printed on 12/1/2022 5:58 PM via UNIVERSITY OF YORK. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use
: : :
Abstract for The Plurality of Worlds:
An Evolutionary Theory of Scientific Development 90
: : :
thomas s. Kuhn: the Plurality of Worlds:
An evolutionary theory of scientific development 103
ACKnoWLedgMents 107
PArt I: tHe ProbLeM
Chapter 1: Scientific Knowledge as Historical Product 111
Chapter 2: Breaking into the Past 132
Chapter 3: Taxonomy and Incommensurability 167
PArt II: A WorLd of KInds
Chapter 4: Biological Prerequisites to Linguistic Description:
Track and Situations 193
Chapter 5: Natural Kinds: How Their Names Mean 224
Chapter 6: Practices, Theories, and Artefactual Kinds 260
bIbLIogrAPHy 267
: : :
Notes 275
Index 287
EBSCOhost - printed on 12/1/2022 5:58 PM via UNIVERSITY OF YORK. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use
edItor’s ACKnoWLedgMents
My work on preparing this volume for publication was greatly
helped by many people and institutions. First of all, I am grateful
to Karen Merikangas Darling of the University of Chicago Press
for inviting me to edit Thomas Kuhn’s unfinished book, and for
giving me the time and freedom necessary to complete this task
in a manner that seemed best to me. I am also grateful to Karen
for introducing me to Kuhn’s literary executors, his widow Jehane
Kuhn and his daughter, Sarah Kuhn. Their enthusiasm for and
faith in the project were of vital importance throughout. Jehane’s
knowledge of the history of the manuscripts and of Kuhn’s own
ideas concerning posthumous publication of his works was invalu-
able. She threw light on a number of points that could not be re-
solved on the basis of the extant texts alone. I am deeply saddened
that she did not live to finally hold this book in her hands. Sarah
Kuhn, in continuing as her father’s literary executor, has displayed
outstanding generosity and integrity. I am grateful for her reliable
help, and for her genuine warmth. This volume is dedicated to her.
For two semesters, the Oakley Center for the Humanities and
Social Sciences provided a peaceful space and research funds to
work on this project. I am grateful to the center’s administrative
director Krista Birch, to two consecutive Williams College faculty
directors, Jana Sawicki and Gage McWeeny, and to a number of
EBSCOhost - printed on 12/1/2022 5:58 PM via UNIVERSITY OF YORK. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use