The Cumulative Nature of Science

Paper Summary:

The writer of this paper ponders the question as to whether or not science is in fact cumulative. This paper analyzes Thomas Kuhn's essay: "The Nature And Necessity of Scientific Revolutions" which focuses on the cumulative nature of scientific knowledge as the central issue of consideration. This paper details Kuhn's two interpretations concerning what it means for science to be cumulative. The first definition contends that for science to be cumulative, old and new theories would out of necessity be compatible. In the second definition Kuhn proposes that were science to always move from some methodological lower to some higher type would result in a cumulative effect.

From the Paper:

"Proving that science is cumulative does not in any way require one to also prove that old paradigms are compatible with their newer counterparts. What we need to show, rather, is that paradigms do in fact build upon one another. If this can be shown, the cumulative nature of science will in turn become apparent (hopefully). Given the acceptance of a paradigm, a number of other developments follow. Within the structure of normal science one attempts to utilize the given paradigm in order to advance science. By applying the paradigm, scientists attempt to develop further theories within its framework. From there these theories will eventually lead to either technological or social advances (depending on the science under consideration). In this pursuit of applying the paradigm, we eventually encounter anomalies which cannot be resolved within the given framework. Simply because these anomalies exist does not make it necessary to overthrow the current paradigm. Rather, these anomalies do not become a problem until a specific group of scientists find it necessary for them to be explained."

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