A paradigm is a shared set of problems, methods, standards, models, and assumptions within an intellectual community. It determines which questions matter and which answers count as acceptable.
Paradigms matter because science does not accumulate facts in a vacuum. Kuhn argued that normal science usually solves problems within a paradigm, while scientific revolutions occur when an old paradigm cannot handle anomalies. Philosophy asks whether paradigm shifts represent scientific progress or whether different paradigms are difficult to compare. In modern society, paradigm is also used to describe technological and industrial shifts, such as an AI paradigm or platform paradigm. The concept reminds us that thinking always occurs within a framework. The hardest task is not answering questions inside a framework, but recognizing that the framework itself can change.
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- What Is Science?
- What Is Model?
- What Is Modernity?
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