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Nomic Concepts, Frames, and Conceptual Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Hanne Andersen*
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen, Panum Institute
Nancy J. Nersessian*
Affiliation:
Georgia Institute of Technology
*
Send requests for reprints to the authors. Hanne Andersen: Department for Medical Philosophy and Clinical Theory, University of Copenhagen, Panum Institute, Blegdamsvej 3, DK-2200 Copenhagen N; e-mail: h.andersen@medphil.ku.dk.
Nancy Nersessian: School of Public Policy and College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GE 30332–0345; e-mail: nancyn@cc.gatech.edu

Extract

Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was published at the beginning of what has come to be known as “the cognitive revolution.” With hindsight one can construct significant parallels between the problems of knowledge, perception, and learning with which Kuhn and cognitive scientists were grappling and between the accounts developed by each. However, by and large Kuhn never utilized the research in cognitive science—especially in cognitive psychology—that we believe would have furthered his own paradigm. This is puzzling since he did not have the traditional philosophical aversion to “psychologizing” and in fact drew on insights from psychology to support the most radical claims in Structure, such as the “Gestalt switch” nature of conceptual change. Indeed, the research program outlined there seems intrinsically historical, philosophical, and psychological and Kuhn's work has had considerable influence on research in cognitive science.

Type
Experiment and Conceptual Change
Copyright
Copyright © 2000 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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