When 'paradigms' differ: scientific communication between skepticism and hope in recent philosophy of science

• Main Author: R. Coletto
• Format: Article
• Language: Afrikaans
• Published: Scriber Editorial Systems 2008-07-01
• Series: Koers : Bulletin for Christian Scholarship
• Subjects: Reformational View Of Antithesis; Theory-Dependence Of Concepts And Statements; Framework-Dependence Of Theories; Incommensurability; Scientific Communication
• Online Access: https://www.koersjournal.org.za/index.php/koers/article/view/169

The first half of this article illustrates how contemporary humanist philosophy of science got caught up in a gradual loss of confidence concerning the possibility of sound communication among scholars holding on to different paradigms or presuppositions. The second half is dedicated to the responses provided by a Christian school of philosophy to the bleak possibility of a communication crisis. The resources deployed by the reformational school of philosophy are argued to constitute valuable instruments to create a more hopeful attitude towards scientific dialogue. A final note is dedicated to the possible causes of the difficulties experienced in this area of reflection by contemporary humanist philosophy of science.