Notes on Truth, Beauty, and Goodness -- Phil A231
William Jamison - Instructor
Following a Rule
A paradigm is: (from Encarta http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861723649)
| par·a·digm [ pérrə dm ] (plural par·a·digms) | ||
| noun | ||
| 1. typical example: a
typical example of something |
||
| 2. model that forms basis of
something: an example that serves as a
pattern or model for something, especially one that forms the basis of a
methodology or theory |
||
| 3. grammar set
of all forms of word: a set of word
forms giving all of the possible inflections of a word |
||
| 4. science philosophy relationship
of ideas to one another: in the
philosophy of science, a generally accepted model of how ideas relate to one
another, forming a conceptual framework within which scientific research is
carried out |
||
| [15th century. Via late Latin from Greek paradeigma “example,” from paradeiknunai , literally “to show beside,” from deiknunai “to show.”] | ||
|
Here we are mostly interested in definition 4. How would the use of the word paradigm in this sense relate to our current concept of narrative -- or metanarrative? How does it fit with Wittgenstein's concept of language game?
I would suggest that we could relate them in this manner:
The narrative structures the language game. The paradigm structures the narrative. The collection of rules is the paradigm. Of course, this is my interpretation and you might interpret the relationship between Kuhn's ideas as a historian of science, Wittgenstein's ideas concerning language and thinking, and current work on narratology in other ways.
What is the relationship of learning a rule to "knowing" a paradigm?
There are probably many rules associated with a particular paradigm.
Quine and the Web of Belief: http://www.philosophy.ru/edu/ref/sci/quine.html
Quine and the Synthetic - Analytic distinction: http://www.mun.ca/phil/codgito/vol3/v3doc4.html
Bibliography
