Philosophies of social science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Philosophies of social science - Essay Example The essence of Kuhn’s ideas when it comes to a scientific revolution is a paradigm shift which causes fundamental changes in the way science is approached by the scientists of the time. A scientific revolution as defined by Doppelt (2006) is: â€Å"A large-scale change in the fundamental concepts, theories, or methods that scientists in some area of inquiry employ to understand the course of nature. Such a change is also thought to be revolutionary in so far as it provokes similarly dramatic alterations in the way lay-people see the world around them (Doppelt, 2006, Pg. 3)†. The Cartesian revolution certainly fits the bill in this case since it brought about significant changes in how fundamental concepts were addressed. For instance the approach taken by Descartes to the world around him was unique to the extent that he wanted to see everything as seeing it for the first time. The ideas presented by Descartes can be summed as being in doubt about everything which is not already known to him in a perfect sense. The only thing that he does not doubt is his personal ability to be cognizant of himself and his ability to think about the things which surround him (Pessin, 2007). However, his notion of science begins with a disbelief in the senses which is certainly a paradigm shift from the earlier natural philosophers such as Plato or Aristotle who had firm belief in some value of their senses. Descartes doubts that anything is actually as his senses tell him as they are. Essentially, all that Descartes is surrounded by could be a just dream or created imagery which is forced upon him by some other (more powerful) being while the reality of things could be quite different (Pessin, 2007). The doubts about his senses and the material world as expressed by Descartes go far beyond the simple doubts a person would have about being what day it is or what date it was a week ago. The scientific approach taken