Aristotle's Paradigm Shift

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From the biggest cities to the smallest of molecules, the earth and its dynamics have been widely studied over the span of human history. Bright individuals have made astounding discoveries that has allowed the human race to come closer to finding an answer explaining the forces at work around them. Starting from the early days of the Grecian empire with Aristotle and Plato to the challenging ideals of Newton and Copernicus, science has been completely redefined and continues to grow as a result. Thomas Kuhn described particular scientific events, such as the transition from Aristotelian to Newtonian physics, as a paradigm shift that is realized when questioning the flaws of the then understood subject. The paradigm shift can be viewed …show more content…
In the first chapter of the Worldviews book by Richard DeWitt, both the worldviews of Aristotle and Newton are compared and it becomes quite obvious Aristotle studied both his own reality and the nature of the space that lay beyond human grasp, studying everything from the ground upon which he would walk to the skies that were home to the sun and moon which shimmered upon him. The earth, water, fire, and air were the elements that existed in his observed and tangible reality and he, therefore, claimed these elements to be the basic elements of life that each held their own specific character. When observing the celestial bodies, Aristotle theorized that these planets were composed of a different element, ether, and its character existed in a perfect nature as he could observe from his earthly position. Along with this assumption, he believed that, these objects made of ether traveled in a perfect rotation, lasting 24-hours, around the earth as it stood at the center of the universe. Aristotle ultimately concluded these assumptions from the observations he made along with the interactions that occurred around him. The beliefs that Aristotle formed all seemed to fit together well as one would explain the existence or result of the other theory and thus his worldview, or puzzle, was formed. His conclusions seem logical …show more content…
People may interpret Kuhn’s theory of paradigm as more assumption than concrete fact. In the article “Normal Science and the Extension of Theories,” the author makes clear that Kuhn was convinced that the paradigm is not necessarily the theory of the new idea, but simply a proposed direction toward the discovery and establishment of a new worldview that comes as a result of the shift in thought. As detailed on page 243 on the “Diffusion of Innovations”, Kuhn infers that scientific revolution occurs when big ideas are discussed and unusual ideas are proposed once the existing science is found to be flawed and cannot be fixed using the science accepted. When Aristotle had formulated his beliefs, it was based upon minimal experimentation and more observation of the physical reality. As he strictly believed the earth was at the center of the universe, the rest of his postulates followed quickly behind, depicting a specific view that would otherwise be false if sufficient evidence or explanation is not

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