PREFACE

This work is an attempt at a critical evaluation and further development of the so-called revolutionary view of science whose major proponents are Thomas Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend.

I became interested in the views of Thomas Kuhn during a lecture at the University of Pennsylvania given by Israel Scheffler in 1966. My subsequent reading of Kuhn's book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions convinced me that it is an extremely plausible and exciting account of the nature of science. I have spent most of my time since then in the study and development of the revolutionary view of science.

I am much indebted to Thomas Kuhn, with whom I discussed various aspects of my work and received valuable assistance and guidance along the way. Furthermore I would like to thank Murray Murphy for his constant encouragement as well as for his illuminating criticism of the various drafts of the manuscript. I wish to thank Richard Jeffrey and Paul Fitzgerald for their valuable philosophical criticism of the manuscript. To Sylvia Most, Nicholas Sullivan, Taras Zakydalskyj, Dorothy Muessing, I would like to give thanks for various types of assistance. I would like to express special thanks to my mother for continued encouragement. I am grateful to my wife, Vera, not only for helping in the typing of the manuscript but more importantly for her stoical patience and perseverance throughout the time of research and writing of this work.

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Table of Contents -- Go to Chapter 1

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