• Why are scientific revolutions largely invisible (pp. 135-137 [136-138])?

• In what connection does Kuhn quote Whitehead’s quip that “a science that hesitates to forget its founders is lost” and how does Kuhn modify it (pp. 138-140 [137-139)?

• What is the mistaken impression created by the arrangement of material in textbooks (pp. 139-140 [140-141])?

• How does the example of Boyle’s definition illustrate these points (pp. 140-142 [141-143])?

• What is the context in which paradigms are tested (pp. 143-144 [144-145])?

• What are Kuhn’s criticisms of probabilistic verification and Popper’s falsification as accounts of the testing of paradigms (pp. 144-146 [145-147])?

Assignment for Wed. 11/6

• What are the reasons Kuhn cites “why proponents of competing paradigms must fail to make contact with each other’s viewpoints” (pp. 147-149 [147-150])? (I count 3.)

• How does conversion to a new paradigm come about (pp. 149-151 [150-152])?

• What sorts of arguments does Kuhn cite as leading to conversion (pp. 151-156 [152-157])? (I count 4.)

• According to Kuhn, what is at issue in paradigm debates (pp. 156-158 [157-159])?

• How and why do reasons and arguments offered during scientific revolutions differ from mathematical proofs (pp. 197-199 [198-200])?

• What is the role of translation in persuasion of the value of a new paradigm (pp. 199-201 [200-202])?

• What is the difference between persuasion and conversion (pp. 201-203 [202-204])?