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Thomas Kuhn: Incommensurability and Civic Education

Smith, David Spencer
http://orcid.org/0009-0003-9651-3328
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1701346855198501

Abstract Details

2023, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, EDU Policy and Leadership.
The central question of this dissertation is: what significance do Thomas Kuhn’s ideas have for science education and for civic education? Thomas Kuhn is widely known in the areas of history, philosophy, and science. His biggest impact on these areas was his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which had a large influence outside of his intended audience. The significance of this book has influenced our everyday language when we use words such as “paradigm” and “paradigm shift,” despite most people being unaware of why these words became part of the common vernacular. His influence, however, is mostly within the philosophy of science and according to Kuhn is only applicable to the hard sciences. I make the argument that Kuhn’s ideas are applicable outside of the hard sciences, and ultimately to us as human beings. I use Kuhn’s ideas such as normal science, revolutionary science, and incommensurability as they relate to science, science education, civic education, and personal beliefs. Kuhn’s ideas create a space within science and civic education to practice overcoming differences both within science and within society. The science education and democratic classrooms provide the arena for the ideas to be discussed and practiced, where a framework to respect each other and find ways to overcome our differences is established to provide a mechanism for a meaningful classroom community.
Bryan Warnick (Advisor)
Winston Thompson (Committee Member)
Michael Glassman (Committee Member)
102 p.
Education History; Education Philosophy

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Smith, D. S. (2023). Thomas Kuhn: Incommensurability and Civic Education [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1701346855198501

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Smith, David. Thomas Kuhn: Incommensurability and Civic Education. 2023. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1701346855198501.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Smith, David. "Thomas Kuhn: Incommensurability and Civic Education." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2023. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1701346855198501

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1701346855198501
114
© 2023, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Thomas Kuhn: Incommensurability and Civic Education by David Spencer Smith is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.