Burman J. T. (2007) Piaget no “remedy” for Kuhn, but the two should be read together: Comment on Tsou’s ‘Piaget vs. Kuhn on Scientific Progress’. Theory & Psychology 17(5): 721–732. https://cepa.info/2835
Burman J. T.
(
2007)
Piaget no “remedy” for Kuhn, but the two should be read together: Comment on Tsou’s ‘Piaget vs. Kuhn on Scientific Progress’.
Theory & Psychology 17(5): 721–732.
Fulltext at https://cepa.info/2835
In arguing that the philosophical works of Jean Piaget could be used as a `remedy’ for the flaws in those of Thomas Kuhn, Tsou overlooked some crucial aspects of the problem: the early history between them, the biological foundation supporting Piaget’s method, and a preexisting suggestion regarding the intended future extension of his work. There was also no mention of the existence of a `lost’ manuscript by Kuhn, which supposedly presents the mature articulation of his theory. This comment therefore proposes some `friendly amendments’ to Tsou’s exposition, with a view to helping achieve his synthetic vision once the `lost’ work has finally been published. Yet the basic message, in anticipation of this future endeavor, is also exceedingly simple: the implicit direction of Piaget’s (and Kuhn’s) epistemological constructivism can be characterized as evolutionary-developmental `progress from, ’ rather than vitalist-teleological `progress toward. '

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