They are dealt with by further-reaching changes on the theoretical level. 57–61).Īnomalies of this sort are observational ones but their treatment goes well beyond the level of observations. Röntgen’s postulate contributes heavily to the crisis that leads to 20th century physics (pp. Under the conditions of the paradigm prevailing at the end of the 19th century, this was an anomaly because it could neither be interpreted as being a particle nor as being a wave. The reason is that this postulate violates deeply entrenched expectations. This postulate is greeted with shock, established scientists as Lord Kelvin pronounce it to be an ‘elaborate hoax’ (pp. He postulates as the cause an agent which has some similarity to light, X-rays. The classical case is that of the unexpected discovery of the Röntgen-rays: Röntgen interrupts a normal investigation of cathode rays in 1895 because he notices that a barium platino-cyanide screen glows when the discharge is in progress. Those anomalies occur often on the level of observations: Some observation(s) contradict deeply entrenched expectations. Mostly, those shifts are triggered by anomalies, ‘the recognition that nature has somehow violated the paradigm-induced expectations that govern normal science’ (pp. Those challenges can lead to paradigm shifts in the proper sense of the word. Footnote 3įundamental to Kuhn’s considerations on paradigm shifts is a distinction between the pursuit of ‘normal science’ and periods of crisis in which the established scientific approach is challenged (pp. This is the reason why Kuhn clarifies this concept in his later writings, beginning with the Postscript (second, enlarged edition of Structure from 1969 (pp. Yet, Kuhn’s characterization is still ambiguous at this point and invites misunderstandings. Footnote 2 This book was originally published in 1962 and provides a basic characterization of the concept of paradigm shifts. The very source on paradigm shifts is still Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Yet, I claim that those features are crucial features of such shifts. In the following, I restrict myself to providing some basic features of the concept of paradigm shifts rather than attempting to provide an exhaustive definition of it Footnote 1. I.1 Basic characterization of the concept of paradigm shifts
Since they acquired their beliefs via a paradigm shift, the first Christians were entitled to their ways of reading the Jewish Scriptures without, however, the Jews being disentitled to their ways.
The resurrection is crucial not as a historical fact but as an anomaly in this sense. If Christianity emerges by way of a paradigm shift, this shift should be the foundation of Christological theorizing: Rather than basing Christology on what the ‘historical Jesus’ did or said, the reconstruction of Jesus as the Christ in the context of this shift is foundational for Christology (in line with Rudolf Bultmann). The first Christians underwent such a paradigm shift: The anomalous experience that the dead Jesus has risen triggered theoretical modifications – the term ‘Messiah’ underwent a meaning-change – so that reality could be coherently re-disclosed as eschatological reality. meaning-changes of key terms, leading to a coherent re-disclosure of reality. Röntgen rays) triggering particular kinds of theoretical modifications, e.g. Paradigm shifts are characterized by observational anomalies (e.g. This paper argues that, historically, Christianity emerges out of Judaism by way of a paradigm shift in Thomas Kuhn’s sense of the word and that this emergence has normative consequences regarding the legitimacy of Christianity.
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