Organon F

Volume 28, May 2021, Issue 2, Pages 458–483

ISSN 2585-7150 (online) ISSN 1335-0668 (print)

Research Article

Do Kuhn’s Cases of the Theory-Change from Newtonian to Einsteinian Physics Support His Incommensurability Thesis?

Kyoung-Eun Yang

https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2021.28208

Abstract

In order to support his revolutionary view on scientific change, Kuhn suggests that there exist two separate aspects of the theory-change from Newtonian to Einsteinian physics that support his incommensurability thesis. For the evidence of his thesis, Kuhn offers the conceptual change in the meaning of the notion of “mass” in the theory-change. And he claims the absence of any neutral observational basis to evaluate the strengths of the two theories. This essay argues that these two cases fail to support his incommensurability thesis.

Keywords

Conceptual change of mass; Kuhn’s incommensurability thesis; neutral observational basis; scientific revolution; space-time measurement; the theory-change from Newtonian to Einsteinian physics.

Author(s) and affiliation(s)

Author

Kyoung-Eun Yang 

Affiliation

Korea National University of Education

Address

Graduate School, Korea National University of Education, 250 Taeseongtabyeon-ro, Gangnae-myeon, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea

E-mail

newtleib@gmail.com

About this article

Received

28 April 2020

Revised

22 September 2020

Accepted

8 October 2020

Published online

10 January 2021

Publishers

Institute of Philosophy of the Slovak Academy of Sciences

Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Cite as

APA

Kyoung-Eun Yang (2021). Do Kuhn’s Cases of the Theory-Change from Newtonian to Einsteinian Physics Support His Incommensurability Thesis? Organon F28(2), 458–483. https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2021.28208

Chicago

Kyoung-Eun Yang. 2021. "Do Kuhn’s Cases of the Theory-Change from Newtonian to Einsteinian Physics Support His Incommensurability Thesis?" Organon F 28 (2): 458–483. https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2021.28208

Harvard

Kyoung-Eun Yang (2021). Do Kuhn’s Cases of the Theory-Change from Newtonian to Einsteinian Physics Support His Incommensurability Thesis? Organon F, 28(2), pp. 458–483. https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2021.28208

Copyright information

© Kyoung-Eun Yang

Response page

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This article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0).


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