Thomas Kuhn’s Legacy for the Historiography of Science

Abstract

Thomas Kuhn was undoubtedly one of the essential authors of the history and philosophy of science in the twentieth century. This chapter analyzes his work and discusses his important contribution to the historiography of science. The first part analyzes his masterpiece, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Next, Kuhn’s debate with Karl Popper’s philosophy of science in the 1960s is interpreted as a crucial confrontation between two traditions of research on science established around the “role of history” for understanding the scientific activity. The third section, continuing the analysis of the impact of the Kuhnian work, addresses the North American thinker’s criticism of the Strong Program’s sociology of scientific knowledge, particularly concerning the issue of scientific relativism. Finally, it is pointed out that, besides all the influential historiographical reflections Kuhn left us, perhaps, his main legacy is still to be achieved. In other words, Kuhn’s influence will be complete when the historiography of science deepens his guidelines for effective writing of the history of science, namely, a theory of the history of science that articulates (1) the historical and social aspects, (2) the idea of evolution, and (3) the role of language in the understanding of scientific activity. Kuhn was one of the few, if not the only one, to show the need to thoroughly articulate these three guidelines and thus realize a more effective and robust history of science. Since this Kuhn-inspired task is still on the horizon, we will most likely continue to be Kuhnians in the future. We are and perhaps still will be in a Kuhnian paradigm for a long time.