Epistemology and Literature: Parallels in Kuhn’s Work

A sociologist reflects on teaching an introductory science course in Argentina in the 1980s and finds striking parallels between the work of Thomas Kuhn and contemporary Argentinian literature. The author details rereading Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions and Paul Feyerabend’s Against Method and recognizing within them a wealth of literary devices, metaphors, allegories, and narratives, beyond their epistemological arguments.

Kuhn’s concepts of paradigm, normal science, and anomaly, the author suggests, resonate with themes found in Argentinian literature. Normal science, focused on maintaining the existing paradigm and not seeking radical novelty, mirrors a certain stagnation the author perceives in the literary scene.

The emergence of anomalies, however, signals potential for breakthroughs and revolutions, both in scientific thought and artistic expression. The author notes Kuhn’s work, published in 1962, aligns with other discontinuous theories emerging around the same time, like those of Georges Canguilhem, suggesting a broader intellectual shift. The piece ultimately proposes reading these texts with an openness to their literary qualities, unbound by disciplinary constraints.