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{{Short description|Fundamental change in ideas and practices within a scientific discipline}}
{{Other uses|Paradigm Shift (disambiguation)}}
A '''paradigm shift''' is a fundamental change in the basic [[concept]]s and [[experiment]]al practices of a [[:Category:Scientific disciplines|scientific discipline]]. It is a concept in the [[philosophy of science]] that was introduced and brought into the common [[lexicon]] by the American physicist and philosopher [[Thomas Kuhn]]. Even though Kuhn restricted the use of the term to the [[natural sciences]], the concept of a paradigm shift has also been used in numerous non-scientific contexts to describe a profound change in a fundamental model or perception of events.

Kuhn presented his notion of a paradigm shift in his influential book ''[[The Structure of Scientific Revolutions]]'' (1962).

Kuhn contrasts paradigm shifts, which characterize a [[Scientific Revolution]], to the activity of [[normal science]], which he describes as scientific work done within a prevailing framework or [[paradigm]]. Paradigm shifts arise when the dominant paradigm under which normal science operates is rendered incompatible with new phenomena, facilitating the adoption of a new theory or paradigm.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Structure of Scientific Revolutions|url=https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn|url-access=registration|last=Kuhn|first=Thomas|year=1962|pages=[https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn/page/54 54]}}</ref>

As one commentator summarizes:

{{blockquote|text=Kuhn acknowledges having used the term "paradigm" in two different meanings. In the first one, "paradigm" designates what the members of a certain scientific community have in common, that is to say, the whole of techniques, patents and values shared by the members of the community. In the second sense, the paradigm is a single element of a whole, say for instance Newton's Principia, which, acting as a common model or an example... stands for the explicit rules and thus defines a coherent tradition of investigation. Thus the question is for Kuhn to investigate by means of the paradigm what makes possible the constitution of what he calls "normal science". That is to say, the science which can decide if a certain problem will be considered scientific or not. Normal science does not mean at all a science guided by a coherent system of rules, on the contrary, the rules can be derived from the paradigms, but the paradigms can guide the investigation also in the absence of rules. This is precisely the second meaning of the term "paradigm", which Kuhn considered the most new and profound, though it is in truth the oldest.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maxvanmanen.com/files/2014/03/Agamben-What-is-a-paradigm1.pdf |author=Agamben, Giorgio |author-link=Giorgio Agamben |title=What is a Paradigm? |access-date=November 14, 2015 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308110109/http://www.maxvanmanen.com/files/2014/03/Agamben-What-is-a-paradigm1.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

== History ==
The nature of scientific revolutions has been studied by [[Modern Philosophy|modern philosophy]] since [[Immanuel Kant]] used the phrase in the preface to the second edition of his ''[[Critique of Pure Reason]]'' (1787). Kant used the phrase "revolution of the way of thinking" ({{lang|de|Revolution der Denkart}}) to refer to [[Greek mathematics]] and [[Classical mechanics|Newtonian physics]]. In the 20th century, new developments in the basic concepts of [[Foundations of mathematics#Foundational crisis|mathematics]], [[Theory of relativity|physics]], and [[History of biology|biology]] revitalized interest in the question among scholars.

=== Original usage ===
[[File:Duck-Rabbit illusion.jpg|thumb|
Kuhn used the [[Rabbit–duck illusion|duck-rabbit ambiguous image]], which [[Wittgenstein]] famously used to [[Philosophical Investigations#Seeing that vs. seeing as|distinguish between the meaning of 'seeing as' and 'seeing that]],' to show how a paradigm shift could cause one to see the same information in an entirely different way.<ref>Kuhn, 1970, chap.8, pp.84–85, chap.10, pp.113–114</ref><ref name=Kindi>{{Cite book |chapter=Kuhn, the Duck, and the Rabbit: Perception, Theory-Ladenness, and Creativity in Science|last=Kindi|first=
Vasso|date=25 June 2021|title=Interpreting Kuhn: Critical Essays|editor-last=Wray|editor-first=K. Brad|location=Cambridge, UK; New York|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=169–184|isbn=9781108498296|oclc=1223066673|doi=10.1017/9781108653206.010|s2cid=237739793 }}</ref>]]

In his 1962 book ''[[The Structure of Scientific Revolutions]]'', Kuhn explains the development of paradigm shifts in science into four stages:

* '''Normal science''' – In this stage, which Kuhn sees as most prominent in science, a dominant paradigm is active. This paradigm is characterized by a set of [[theories]] and ideas that define what is possible and rational to do, giving scientists a clear set of tools to approach certain problems. Some examples of dominant paradigms that Kuhn gives are: Newtonian physics, [[caloric theory]], and the theory of [[electromagnetism]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Structure of Scientific Revolutions|url=https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn|url-access=registration|last=Kuhn|first=Thomas|year=1962|pages=[https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn/page/28 28]}}</ref> Insofar as paradigms are useful, they expand both the scope and the tools with which scientists do research. Kuhn, in discussion of [[theory-ladenness]], stresses that, rather than being monolithic, the paradigms that define normal science can be particular to different people.<ref name="Bogen">Bogen, Jim (2014): [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/science-theory-observation/ "Theory and Observation in Science"], In: Edward N. Zalta (ed.), ''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (Summer 2014 Edition).</ref><ref name=Kindi></ref> A chemist and a physicist might operate with different paradigms of what a helium atom is.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Structure of Scientific Revolutions|url=https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn|url-access=registration|last=Kuhn|first=Thomas|year=1962|pages=[https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn/page/50 50]}}</ref> Under normal science, scientists encounter anomalies that cannot be explained by the universally accepted paradigm within which scientific progress has thereto been made.
* '''Extraordinary research''' – When enough significant [[Anomaly (natural sciences)|anomalies]] have accrued against a current paradigm, the scientific discipline is thrown into a state of crisis. To address the crisis, scientists push the boundaries of normal science in what Kuhn calls “extraordinary research”, which is characterized by its exploratory nature.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Structure of Scientific Revolutions|url=https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn|url-access=registration|last=Kuhn|first=Thomas|year=1962|pages=[https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn/page/87 87]}}</ref> Without the structures of the dominant paradigm to depend on, scientists engaging in extraordinary research must produce new theories, thought experiments, and experiments to explain the anomalies. Kuhn sees the practice of this stage – “the proliferation of competing articulations, the willingness to try anything, the expression of explicit discontent, the recourse to philosophy and to debate over fundamentals” – as even more important to science than paradigm shifts.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Structure of Scientific Revolutions|url=https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn|url-access=registration|last=Kuhn|first=Thomas|year=1962|pages=[https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn/page/91 91]}}</ref>
* '''Adoption of a new paradigm''' – Eventually a new paradigm is formed, which gains its own new followers. For Kuhn, this stage entails both resistance to the new paradigm, and reasons for why individual scientists adopt it. According to [[Max Planck]], "a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."''<ref name=":02">Quoted in Thomas Kuhn, ''[[The Structure of Scientific Revolutions]]'' (1970 ed.): p. 150.</ref>'' Because scientists are committed to the dominant paradigm, and paradigm shifts involve gestalt-like changes, Kuhn stresses that paradigms are difficult to change. However, paradigms can gain influence by explaining or predicting phenomena much better than before (i.e., Bohr's model of the atom) or by being more subjectively pleasing. During this phase, proponents for competing paradigms address what Kuhn considers the core of a paradigm debate: whether a given paradigm will be a good guide for {{em|future}} problems – things that neither the proposed paradigm nor the dominant paradigm are capable of solving currently.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Structure of Scientific Revolutions|url=https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn|url-access=registration|last=Kuhn|first=Thomas|year=1962|pages=[https://archive.org/details/structureofscie00kuhn/page/157 157]}}</ref>
* '''Aftermath of the scientific revolution''' – In the long run, the new paradigm becomes institutionalized as the dominant one. Textbooks are written, obscuring the revolutionary process.

== Features ==

===Paradigm shifts and progress===
A common misinterpretation of paradigms is the belief that the discovery of paradigm shifts and the dynamic nature of science (with its many opportunities for subjective judgments by scientists) are a case for [[relativism]]:<ref>Sankey, Howard (1997) "Kuhn's ontological relativism," in ''Issues and Images in the Philosophy of Science: Scientific and Philosophical Essays in Honour of Azarya Polikarov'', edited by Dimitri Ginev and Robert S. Cohen. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 1997. Boston studies in the philosophy of science, vol. 192, pp. 305–20. {{ISBN|0792344448}}</ref> the view that all kinds of belief systems are equal. Kuhn vehemently denies this interpretation<ref>Thomas Kuhn, ''[[The Structure of Scientific Revolutions]]'' (3rd ed.): p. 199.</ref> and states that when a scientific paradigm is replaced by a new one, albeit through a complex social process, the new one is ''always better'', not just different.

===Incommensurability===
These claims of relativism are, however, tied to another claim that Kuhn does at least somewhat endorse: that the language and theories of different paradigms cannot be translated into one another or rationally evaluated against one another—that they are ''incommensurable''. This gave rise to much talk of different peoples and cultures having radically different worldviews or conceptual schemes—so different that whether or not one was better, they could not be understood by one another.

[[Donald Davidson (philosopher)|Donald Davidson]] famously argued against this idea of conceptual relativism, claiming that the notion that any languages or theories could be incommensurable with one another was itself incoherent. If this is correct, Kuhn's claims must be taken in a weaker sense than they often are.<ref>Davidson, D. (1974). On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme. ''Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association''. '''47''' (1): 5–20.</ref>

Furthermore, the hold of the Kuhnian analysis on [[social science]] has long been tenuous, with the wide application of multi-paradigmatic approaches in order to understand complex human behaviour.<ref>see e.g. {{cite book|author=John Hassard|title=Sociology and Organization Theory: Positivism, Paradigm and Postmodernity|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1993|isbn=0521350344}}</ref>

===Gradualism vs. sudden change===
Paradigm shifts tend to be most dramatic in sciences that appear to be stable and mature, as in physics at the end of the 19th century. At that time, physics seemed to be a discipline filling in the last few details of a largely worked-out system.

In ''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'', Kuhn wrote, "Successive transition from one paradigm to another via revolution is the usual developmental pattern of mature science" (p.&nbsp;12). Kuhn's idea was itself revolutionary in its time as it caused a major change in the way that academics talk about science. Thus, it could be argued that it caused or was itself part of a "paradigm shift" in the history and sociology of science. However, Kuhn would not recognise such a paradigm shift. In the social sciences, people can still use earlier ideas to discuss the history of science.

Philosophers and historians of science, including Kuhn himself, ultimately accepted a modified version of Kuhn's model, which synthesizes his original view with the gradualist model that preceded it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Gene |title=Applied Qualitative Research Design |date=2019 |publisher=EDTECH |isbn=978-1-83947-216-9 |pages=103 |oclc=1132359447}}</ref>

== Examples ==

=== Natural sciences ===
Some of the "classical cases" of Kuhnian paradigm shifts in science are:

* 1543 – The transition in [[cosmology]] from a [[Geocentrism|Ptolemaic cosmology]] to a [[Copernican heliocentrism|Copernican]] one.<ref>Kuhn, 1970, pp. 154 and passim</ref>
* 1543 – The acceptance of the work of [[Andreas Vesalius]], whose work ''[[De humani corporis fabrica]]'' corrected the numerous errors in the previously held system of [[human anatomy]] created by [[Galen]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=[Vesalius and De humani corporis fabrica: Galen's errors and the change of anatomy in the sixteenth century] | pmid=11625189 | journal=Hippokrates (Helsinki) | pages=98–112 | last1 = Joutsivuo | first1 = T| year=1997 }}</ref>
* 1687 – The transition in [[mechanics]] from [[Aristotelian mechanics]] to [[classical mechanics]].<ref>Kuhn, 1970, pp. 148 and passim</ref>
* 1783 – The acceptance of [[Lavoisier]]'s theory of chemical reactions and combustion in place of [[phlogiston theory]], known as the [[chemical revolution]].<ref>Paradigm Shifts: Technology & Culture</ref><ref>Kuhn, 1970, p. 157</ref>
* The transition in [[optics]] from [[geometrical optics]] to [[physical optics]] with [[Augustin-Jean Fresnel]]'s wave theory.<ref>Kuhn, 1970, p. 155</ref>
* 1826 – The discovery of [[hyperbolic geometry]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Trudeau|first1=Richard J|title=The non-Euclidean revolution|url=https://archive.org/details/noneuclideanrevo0000trud|url-access=registration|date=1987|publisher=Birkhäuser|location=Boston|isbn=978-0-8176-3311-0}}</ref>
* 1830 to 1833 – [[Geologist]] [[Charles Lyell]] published ''[[Principles of Geology]]'', which not only put forth the concept of [[uniformitarianism]], which was in direct contrast to the popular geological theory, at the time, [[catastrophism]], but also utilized geological proof to determine that the age of the Earth was  [[Age of the Earth|older than 6,000 years]], which was previously held to be true.
* 1859 – The revolution in [[evolution]] from goal-directed change to [[Charles Darwin]]'s [[natural selection]].<ref>Kuhn, 1970, pp. 151 and passim</ref>
* 1880 – The [[germ theory of disease]] began overtaking Galen's [[miasma theory]].
* 1905 – The development of [[quantum mechanics]], which replaced [[classical mechanics]] at microscopic scales.<ref>Kuhn, 1970, pp. 83–84, 151 and passim</ref>
* 1887 to 1905 – The transition from the [[luminiferous aether]] present in [[space]] to [[electromagnetic radiation]] in [[spacetime]].<ref>Kuhn, 1970, p. 107</ref>
* 1919 – The transition between the worldview of [[Newtonian gravity]] and [[general relativity]].
* 1920 – The emergence of the modern view of the [[Milky Way]] as just one of countless galaxies within an immeasurably vast universe following the results of the Smithsonian's [[Shapley-Curtis Debate|Great Debate]] between astronomers [[Harlow Shapley]] and [[Heber Curtis]].
* 1952 – [[Chemist]]s [[Stanley Miller]] and [[Harold Urey]] perform an [[Miller–Urey experiment|experiment]] which simulated the conditions on the [[Hadean|early Earth]] that favored chemical reactions that synthesized more complex [[organic compounds]] from simpler inorganic precursors, kickstarting decades of research into the [[abiogenesis|chemical origins of life]].
* 1964 – The [[discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation]] leads to the [[Big Bang theory]] being accepted over the [[steady state theory]] in [[cosmology]].
* 1965 – The acceptance of [[plate tectonics]] as the explanation for large-scale geologic changes.
* 1969 – [[Astronomer]] [[Victor Safronov]], in his book ''Evolution of the protoplanetary cloud and formation of the Earth and the planets'', developed the early version of the current [[nebular hypothesis|accepted theory of planetary formation]].
* 1974 – The November Revolution, with the discovery of the [[J/psi meson]], and the acceptance of the existence of [[quarks]] and the [[Standard Model]] of particle physics.
* 1960 to 1985 – The acceptance of the ubiquity of [[nonlinearity|nonlinear]] [[dynamical systems]] as promoted by [[chaos theory]], instead of a [[Laplace|laplacian]] world-view of [[determinism|deterministic]] predictability.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gleick |first=James |author-link=James Gleick |date=1988 |title=Chaos:making a new science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=upcJCIH8M_oC |location=New York |publisher=Viking Penguin|pages=35–56|chapter=Chapter 2:Revolution|isbn=0-670-81178-5}}</ref>

=== Social sciences ===
In Kuhn's view, the existence of a single reigning paradigm is characteristic of the natural sciences, while philosophy and much of social science were characterized by a "tradition of claims, counterclaims, and debates over fundamentals."<ref>{{Cite book |last= Kuhn |first= Thomas N. |author-link= Thomas Kuhn |editor1-last= Lakatos |editor1-first= Imre |editor2-last= Musgrave |editor2-first= Alan |editor1-link= Imre Lakatos |editor2-link= Alan Musgrave |title= Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge |edition= second |orig-year= 1970 |year= 1972 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |location= Cambridge |isbn= 978-0-521-09623-2 |page= [https://archive.org/details/criticismgrowth00laka/page/6 6] |chapter= Logic of Discovery or Psychology of Research |chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/criticismgrowth00laka/page/6 }}</ref>  Others have applied Kuhn's concept of paradigm shift to the social sciences.

* The movement known as the [[cognitive revolution]] moved away from [[Behaviorism|behaviourist]] approaches to [[psychology]] and the acceptance of [[cognition]] as central to studying human behavior.
* [[Anthropologist]] [[Franz Boas]] published ''[[The Mind of Primitive Man]]'', which integrated his theories concerning the history and development of cultures and established a program that would dominate American anthropology in the following years. His research, along with that of his other colleagues, combatted and debunked the claims being made by scholars at the time, given [[scientific racism]] and [[eugenics]] were dominant in many universities and institutions that were dedicated to studying humans and society. Eventually [[anthropology]] would apply a holistic approach, utilizing four subcategories to study humans: [[archaeology]], [[cultural anthropology|cultural]], [[evolutionary anthropology|evolutionary]], and [[linguistic anthropology]].
* At the turn of the 20th century, [[sociologist]]s, along with other [[social scientist]]s developed and adopted methodological [[antipositivism]], which sought to uphold a subjective perspective when studying human activities pertaining to [[culture]], [[society]], and [[behavior]]. This was in stark contrast to [[positivism]], which took its influence from the methodologies utilized within the [[natural science]]s.
* First proposed by [[Ferdinand de Saussure]] in 1879, the [[laryngeal theory]] in [[Indo-European linguistics]] postulated the existence of "laryngeal" consonants in the [[Proto-Indo-European language]] (PIE), a theory that was confirmed by the discovery of the [[Hittite language]] in the early 20th century. The theory has since been accepted by the vast majority of linguists, paving the way for the [[internal reconstruction]] of the syntax and grammatical rules of PIE and is considered one of the most significant developments in linguistics since the initial discovery of the [[Indo-European language family]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Indo European Linguistics: An Introduction|year=2007|url=https://archive.org/details/indoeuropeanling00clac|url-access=limited|author=James Clackson|publisher=[[Cambridge University]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/indoeuropeanling00clac/page/n76 53]|isbn=9780521653671}}</ref>
* The adoption of [[radiocarbon dating]] by archaeologists has been proposed as a paradigm shift because of how it greatly increased the time depth the archaeologists could reliably date objects from. Similarly the use of [[LIDAR]] for remote geospatial imaging of cultural landscapes, and the shift from processual to post-processual archaeology have both been claimed as paradigm shifts by archaeologists.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=Sophie C. |last2=Marwick |first2=Ben |title=Tool-Driven Revolutions in Archaeological Science |journal=Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology |date=28 January 2020 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=18–32 |doi=10.5334/jcaa.29|doi-access=free }}</ref>
* The [[Marginalism#Marginal_Revolution|Marginal Revolution]], a development of economic theory in the late 19th century led by [[William Stanley Jevons]] in England, [[Carl Menger]] in Austria, and [[Léon Walras]] in Switzerland and France which explained economic behavior in terms of [[marginal utility]].

=== Applied sciences ===
More recently, paradigm shifts are also recognisable in applied sciences:
* In medicine, the transition from "clinical judgment" to [[evidence-based medicine]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}
* In [[Artificial Intelligence]], the transition from a knowledge-based to a data-driven paradigm has been discussed from 2010.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cristianini|first1=Nello|title=On the Current Paradigm in Artificial Intelligence|journal=AI Communications|date=2012|volume=27|pages=37–43|doi=10.3233/AIC-130582}}</ref>

== Other uses ==
The term "paradigm shift" has found uses in other contexts, representing the notion of a major change in a certain thought pattern—a radical change in personal beliefs, complex systems or organizations, replacing the former way of thinking or organizing with a radically different way of thinking or organizing:
* M. L. Handa, a professor of sociology in education at O.I.S.E. [[University of Toronto]], Canada, developed the concept of a paradigm within the context of social sciences. He defines what he means by "paradigm" and introduces the idea of a "social paradigm". In addition, he identifies the basic component of any social paradigm. Like Kuhn, he addresses the issue of changing paradigms, the process popularly known as "paradigm shift". In this respect, he focuses on the social circumstances that precipitate such a shift. Relatedly, he addresses how that shift affects social institutions, including the institution of education.<ref>Handa, M. L. (1986) "Peace Paradigm: Transcending Liberal and Marxian Paradigms". Paper presented in "International Symposium on Science, Technology and Development, New Delhi, India, March 20–25, 1987, Mimeographed at O.I.S.E., University of Toronto, Canada (1986)</ref>
* The concept has been developed for technology and economics in the identification of new techno-economic paradigms as changes in technological systems that have a major influence on the behaviour of the entire economy ([[Carlota Perez]]; earlier work only on technological paradigms by [[Giovanni Dosi]]). This concept is linked to [[Joseph Schumpeter]]'s idea of [[creative destruction]]. Examples include the move to mass production and the introduction of microelectronics.<ref>Perez, Carlota (2009). "Technological revolutions and techno-economic paradigms", ''Cambridge Journal of Economics'', Vol. 34, No.1, pp. 185–202</ref>
* Two photographs of the Earth from space, "[[Earthrise]]" (1968) and "[[The Blue Marble]]" (1972), are thought {{by whom|date=December 2020}} to have helped to usher in the [[environmentalist]] movement, which gained great prominence in the years immediately following distribution of those images.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.lclark.edu/org/envtl/objects/39-2_Schroeder.pdfSchroeder,| title = Christopher H. (2009). "Global Warming and the Problem of Policy Innovation: Lessons from the Early Environmental Movement".}}</ref><ref>See also [[Stewart Brand#NASA images of Earth]]</ref>
* [[Hans Küng]] applies Thomas Kuhn's theory of paradigm change to the entire history of Christian thought and theology. He identifies six historical "macromodels": 1) the apocalyptic paradigm of primitive Christianity, 2) the Hellenistic paradigm of the patristic period, 3) the medieval Roman Catholic paradigm, 4) the Protestant (Reformation) paradigm, 5) the modern Enlightenment paradigm, and 6) the emerging ecumenical paradigm. He also discusses five analogies between natural science and theology in relation to paradigm shifts. Küng addresses paradigm change in his books, ''Paradigm Change in Theology''<ref>Kung, Hans & Tracy, David (ed). ''Paradigm Change in Theology''. New York: Crossroad, 1989.</ref> and ''Theology for the Third Millennium: An Ecumenical View''.<ref>Küng, Hans. ''Theology for the Third Millennium: An Ecumenical View''. New York: Anchor Books, 1990.</ref>
*In the later part of the 1990s, 'paradigm shift' emerged as a [[buzzword]], popularized as [[marketing speak]] and appearing more frequently in print and publication.<ref>Robert Fulford, Globe and Mail (June 5, 1999). http://www.robertfulford.com/Paradigm.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128044847/http://www.robertfulford.com/Paradigm.html |date=2011-01-28 }} Retrieved on 2008-04-25.</ref> In his book ''Mind The Gaffe'', author [[Larry Trask]] advises readers to refrain from using it, and to use caution when reading anything that contains the phrase. It is referred to in several articles and books<ref name="cnet">{{cite web| url = http://www.cnet.com/1990-11136_1-6275610-1.html| title = Cnet.com's Top 10 Buzzwords |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004040354/http://www.cnet.com/1990-11136_1-6275610-1.html |archive-date=2009-10-04}}</ref><ref name="Complete Idiot's Guide to A Smart Vocabulary">[http://www.mcfedries.com/vocabulary/intro.asp "The Complete Idiot's Guide to a Smart Vocabulary" pp. 142–43, author: Paul McFedries publisher: Alpha; 1st edition (May 7, 2001)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215012026/http://www.mcfedries.com/vocabulary/intro.asp|date=December 15, 2007}} {{ISBN|978-0-02-863997-0}}</ref> as abused and overused to the point of becoming meaningless.
* The concept of [[technological paradigm]]s has been advanced, particularly by [[Giovanni Dosi]].
{{Further|Violation paradigm}}

== Criticism ==
In a 2015 retrospective on Kuhn,<ref>Cohen, Martin (2015). ''Paradigm Shift: How Expert Opinions Keep Changing on Life, the Universe and Everything''. Imprint Academic. p. 181.</ref> the philosopher [[Martin Cohen (philosopher)|Martin Cohen]] describes the notion of the paradigm shift as a kind of intellectual virus – spreading from hard science to [[social science]] and on to the arts and even everyday [[political rhetoric]] today. Cohen claims that Kuhn had only a very hazy idea of what it might mean and, in line with the Austrian philosopher of science [[Paul Feyerabend]], accuses Kuhn of retreating from the more radical implications of his theory, which are that [[scientific fact]]s are never really more than opinions whose popularity is transitory and far from conclusive. Cohen says scientific [[knowledge]] is less certain than it is usually portrayed, and that science and knowledge generally is not the 'very sensible and reassuringly solid sort of affair' that Kuhn describes, in which progress involves periodic paradigm shifts in which much of the old certainties are abandoned in order to open up new approaches to understanding that scientists would never have considered valid before. He argues that information cascades can distort rational, scientific debate. He has focused on health issues, including the example of highly mediatised '[[pandemic]]' [[alarmism|alarms]], and why they have turned out eventually to be little more than scares.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://theconversation.com/profiles/martin-cohen-406203 |title = Martin Cohen| date=6 September 2017 }}</ref>

One of the early critics of Kuhn, [[Norwood Russell Hanson]] criticized Kuhn's paradigm shift theory as being conceptually circular and therefore impossible to falsifiable.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lund |first=Matthew |date=2007 |title=N.R. Hanson on the Relation Between Philosophy and History of Science |journal=PhilSci-Archive |url=https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/3908/1/Hanson_Phil_Hist_Pitt2007.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709112725/https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/3908/1/Hanson_Phil_Hist_Pitt2007.pdf |archive-date=2024-07-09 |url-status=live
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Matthew |last=Lund  |year=2010 |url=https://www.academia.edu/226367 | title=N.R. Hanson: Observation, Discovery, and Scientific Change |publisher=Humanity Books |isbn=978-1-59102-772-0}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col}} 
*{{annotated link|Accelerating change}}
*{{annotated link|Attitude polarization}}
*{{annotated link|Belief perseverance}}
*{{annotated link|Buckminster Fuller}}
*{{annotated link|Cognitive bias}}
*{{annotated link|Conceptual model}}
*{{annotated link|Theory-ladenness}}
*{{annotated link|Confirmation bias}}
*{{annotated link|Copernican Revolution}}
*{{annotated link|Critical juncture theory}}
*{{annotated link|Cultural bias}}
*{{annotated link|Disruptive innovation}}
*{{annotated link|Don Tapscott}} (author of ''Paradigm Shift'')
*{{annotated link|Epistemological rupture|Epistemological break}}
*{{annotated link|Gaston Bachelard}}
*{{annotated link|Globalization}}
*{{annotated link|Human history}}
*{{annotated link|Infrastructure bias}}
*{{annotated link|Innovation}}
*{{annotated link|Inquiry}}
*{{annotated link|Kondratiev wave}}
*{{annotated link|Ludwik Fleck}}
*{{annotated link|Conceptual model|Modeling}}
*{{annotated link|Mindset}}
*{{annotated link|New world order (politics)}}
*{{annotated link|Planck's principle}}
*{{annotated link|Scientific modelling}}
*{{annotated link|Statistical model}}
*{{annotated link|Systemic bias}}
*{{annotated link|Teachable moment}}
*{{annotated link|World view}}
*{{annotated link|Zeitgeist}}
{{div col end}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite book |last = Kuhn |first = Thomas |author-link = Thomas Kuhn |title = The Structure of Scientific Revolutions |publisher = University of Chicago Press |year = 1970 |edition = 2nd, enlarged |isbn = 978-0-226-45804-5 |url = https://archive.org/details/structureofscie000kuhn }}

== External links ==
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080324124256/http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/6-933JThe-Structure-of-Engineering-RevolutionsFall2001/CourseHome/index.htm MIT 6.933J – The Structure of Engineering Revolutions]. From MIT OpenCourseWare, course materials (graduate level) for a course on the history of technology through a [[Thomas Kuhn|Kuhnian]] lens.
* {{cite IEP |url-id = s-change |title = "Scientific Change" }}

{{Science and technology studies}}{{Historiography}}{{Population}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paradigm Shift}}
[[Category:Change]]
[[Category:Cognition]]
[[Category:Concepts in epistemology]]
[[Category:Concepts in the philosophy of science]]
[[Category:Consensus reality]]
[[Category:Critical thinking]]
[[Category:Epistemology of science]]
[[Category:Historiography of science]]
[[Category:Innovation]]
[[Category:Philosophical theories]]
[[Category:Reasoning]]
[[Category:Scientific Revolution]]
[[Category:Thomas Kuhn]]