Discussion question assignments

• Everyone should have received an email that looks like this:
  
• These list the date of the class period that your question should relate to and the due date for submitting the question.
• E.g. the question for the class of November 11 (Poudrier 2007) is due on November 5.
• Turn these in on the “Assignments” section on Teams.

1. Prompt

• One (broad) idea, described in a few sentences
• Can contain multiple, related “questions”
• Can contain quotes from text
• Should use in-text (parenthetical) citations
• A single prompt (one of the numbered items on the worksheets)

2. Motivation

• A few sentences describing where the question is coming from and where I hope it may lead
• Counts toward score, but will not be published if your question is chosen for inclusion

Thomas Kuhn (1922–1996)

• Physicist by training
• Transitioned to history and philosophy of science after PhD

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

• First published in 1962
• “Normal science” vs.
  “paradigm shifts”
• Directly confronted the prevailing (functionalist) view of science as an institution
• Had a huge impact, arguably spurring its own paradigm shift in the philosophy and sociology of science

Anti-positivist

• Positivism is the idea that
  neutral observations inform and shape objective knowledge and theories.
• In TSSR, Kuhn suggests instead that the theoretical frameworks of a paradigm shape observations and define scientific facts.
• For Kuhn, facts do not exist without a paradigm that can give them meaning. Observation is dependent on theory.

Anti-falsificationist

• Falsificationism is the idea that
  theories are disproven by counter-examples.
• Kuhn argues that counter-examples (anomalies) do not normally cause crisis.
• Only during revolutions in paradigm are anomalies employed as justification for new worldviews.