Walking the line

Kuhn between realism and relativism

Michela Massimi

pp. 135-152

in: William J. Devlin, Alisa Bokulich (eds), Kuhn's structure of scientific revolutions, Berlin, Springer, 2015

Abstract

In this chapter, I evaluate the thorny issue as to whether Thomas Kuhn's view supports a form of realism or relativism. I consider two prominent realist readings of Kuhn, offered respectively by Hoyningen-Huene and Giere, and some of the challenges each of them faces. I offer then a reading of Kuhn's contentious claim about "working in a new world" in terms of what I call naturalized Kantian kinds. I show how this reading can escape some of the challenges and deliver a mild form of realism.

Cited authors

Kant Immanuel

Kuhn Thomas S