On Oct 14, 2006, at 11:24 AM, Dewey Dykstra wrote:

> (No, Kuhn was not constructivist.


> A very good description of the body of Kuhn's work,
> endorsed by Kuhn is Reconstructing Scientific Revolutions by Paul
> Hoyningen-Huene, University of Chicago Press, 1993.) Evidence of the
> effects of instruction in science have been recorded in an extensive
> body of academic work.
>



I beg to differ. Kuhn is one of THE instigators of social
constructivism, whether intentionally or not, and this is not so far
removed from pedagogical constructivism.
I will write to Paul Hoyningen who I know well to see what he thinks
of your categorical claim but I think I know the answer in advance.
Certainly the adverse reaction that Kuhn met with after the
publication of his book was from critics arguing that his views were
tantamount to the construction of knowledge rather than its
discovery. And the fact that so many sociologists of science hold
Kuhn up as a hero means there is a very good case to be made for
Kuhn's constructivism, as several other books on Kuhn have laid out.

Hoyningen is a rather special case. He is all out to exonerate Kuhn
from all criticisms. Kuhn one claimed that Paul knew his own (Kuhn's
work) better than he did himself. He would not have met with such
approval if he had gone after Kuhn by claiming that he was a
constructivist.


eric scerri


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The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance, by Eric Scerri,
Oxford University Press, 2006.
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Dr. Eric Scerri
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry,
Charles Young Drive,
Los Angeles,
CA 90095.

310 206 7443
fax: 310 206 2061

UCLA faculty web page: http://www.chem.ucla.edu/dept/Faculty/scerri/

Editor of Foundations of Chemistry,
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International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry,
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