Thomas Kuhn

Birthdate

Jul 18, 1922

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio

Education

1943

Graduated from Harvard. Thomas Kuhn’s academic life started in physics. He then switched to history of science, and as his career developed he moved over to philosophy of science, although retaining a strong interest in the history of physics.

Career

1961

Kuhn became a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, having moved there in 1956 to take up a post in history of science, but in the philosophy department. This enabled him to develop his interest in the philosophy of science.

Accomplishments

1962

He published "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions". It is one of the most cited academic books of all time. A particularly important part of Kuhn’s thesis focuses upon one specific component of the disciplinary matrix. This is the consensus on exemplary instances of scientific research. Another important focus of Kuhn’s interest in was on the nature of perception and how it may be that what a scientist observes can change as a result of scientific revolution.

Career

1964

Kuhn left Berkeley to take up the position of M. Taylor Pyne Professor of Philosophy and History of Science at Princeton University. In the following year an important event took place which helped promote Kuhn’s profile further among philosophers.

Impact on Modern Day Philosophy of Science

1980

Kuhn was one of the most influential philosophers and historians of science of the twentieth century. His most obvious achievement was to have been a major force in bringing about the logical positivism. Nonetheless, there is no characteristically Kuhnian school that carries on his positive work. It is as if he himself brought about a revolution but did not supply the replacement paradigm.

Death date

Jun 22, 1996

Died in Cambridge, MA