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Paradigms and the Nature of Change in American Archaeology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David J. Meltzer
David J. Meltzer*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
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Abstract

Aspects of Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions are discussed and criticized. Problems are pointed out in three general areas: the latitude Kuhn allows in the concept paradigm, his views on the nature of scientific change, and his notion of incommensurability and the accompanying problems of relativism. The utilization of Kuhn's model by archaeologists is then critiqued, with a focus on the varying interpretations of the paradigmatic state of the discipline. Finally, consideration is given to the recent changes in archaeology that have led to the claim that there has been a scientific revolution in the field. It is argued that those ostensibly fundamental changes are neither revolutionary nor particulary beneficial to a scientific archaeology.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , October 1979 , pp. 644 - 657
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1979

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References

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