F. D’Agostino 
Naturalizing Epistemology 
Thomas Kuhn and the ‘Essential Tension’

In identifying that the ‘essential tension’ is the balance between conservative and innovative approaches in the development of knowledge – tried-and tested or new directions – Kuhn pointed out that these two attitudes are both appropriate. This study adds to this picture the social and psychological dynamics that underpin any such balancing.

Tabella dei contenuti

Acknowledgements Getting It Together Essential Tensions The Facilitative Possibilities The Consistent Pattern Motivating Diversity A Culture of Enquiry The Division of Labor in Communities of Enquiry Some Communities of Enquiry Naturalizing the Essential Tension References Index

Circa l’autore

FRED D’AGOSTINO is Professor of Humanities at The University of Queensland, Australia. He co-edits
Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) and previously co-edited the
Australasian Journal of Philosophy. His most recent books are
Free Public Reason (1996) and
Incommensurability and Commensuration (2003). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and holds Australian Research Council and Australian Learning and Teaching Council grants for work, respectively, in social epistemology and tertiary curriculum development.