Modeling Scientific Revolutions: Gärdenfors and Levi on the Nature of Paradigm Shifts

Abstract: Gärdenfors' and Levi's theories of rational belief changes will be compared to Kuhn's theory of scientific progress. Gärdenfors' proposal to analyze scientific revolutions in terms of big changes in epistemic entrenchment will be criticized for not being able to represent the important constituting function of the paradigms. Parts of Levi's theory that are incompatible with Kuhn's theory will be shown to be either too restrictive or too broad for a model of scientific progress. The paper will end with a comparison of Levi's conceptual frameworks to Kuhn's theory of scientific change. Some characteristics of scientific revolutions will also be discussed.