Publication Details

Abstract

The paper is the last of a series of papers ([4], [5], [6], [7]) discussing the deveplopment of science. As D. Gillies shows, there is a diversity' of scientific revolutions. But whereas after Kopernikan revolution the Aristotelian physics was fully removed from scientific training, after Einsteinian one the Newtonian physics still plays an important role. These differences had been unveiled even in the behaviour of scientific community. Consequently, even the opponents of the rational reconstruction of the development of science must acknowledge the legitimate task of determining basic types of scientific revolutions. The addherents of such a reconstruction, on the other hand, will have to reconstruct these differing attitudes of scientific community to the latter on a rational basis.

The paper offers a classification of scientific revolutions, as well as an explanation of different attitudes towards old paradigms after Kopernikan, resp. Einsteinian revolutions.