Programmes and Paradigms
A Reply to Zandvoort
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11924770 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Edward Nadel (Institute for Communication Research, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA., corresponding author) |
| Year | 1984 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 446-450 |
| Publication date | 1984-08-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Studies of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0306-3127 • E-ISSN: 1460-3659 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/030631284014003006 |
| OpenAlex | W2088567415 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 2 |
Henk Zandvoort arguesI against the operational indicator of Kuhnian incommensurability proposed in my 'Commitment and Co-Citation' paper2 on the following grounds. First, that the operationalization cannot distinguish between the positions of Kuhn and Lakatos. Here he goes on to outline an explanation for the longitudinal co-citation results in the weak-electromagnetic unification case, using Lakatos's theory. Second, when applying the operationalization, changing levels of incommensurability are observed in different historical periods. Such changes, Zandvoort argues, cannot be understood from Kuhnian theory (where incommensurability must remain constant). Before addressing these arguments, I will summarize the operationalization. Since citations in journal articles are observed as generally affirmative (rather than negative) references, under incommensurable competition we would not expect competing perspectives both to be cited in the same article (that is, they should not be co-cited). Incommensurable competition takes place, for Kuhn, between paradigms. As will be shown below, a Kuhnian paradigm is equivalent in Lakatos to a research
Citation · Competition (biology · Epistemology · Operationalization · Political science · Sociology · Unification · Complex Systems and Decision Making · Computer Science · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Science and Climate Studies
| Citations per year | 0.06 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2009 - 2009 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |