On the Role of Themata in Scientific Thought

Holton, Gerald

doi:10.1126/science.188.4186.328

Cited by 118 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Gerald Holton introduced the concept of themata in scientific activity to describe how unspoken assumptions color the activity of generations of scientists (Holton, 1975). As examples from physics, he pointed to the value placed on unification (of theoretical explanations), elementary objects (as units of analysis), isotropy (there is no favored direction in the universe along which measurements differ), homogeneity (particles of the same species are absolutely identical, whether they exist in our living room or the opposite end of the universe), and symmetry [whose failure in classical mechanics for the motion of magnets and conductors motivated Einstein's special theory of relativity (Einstein, 1905)].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Resituating Cognition.

Killeen¹,

Glenberg²

2010

CCBR

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Cognition, historically localized in one part of the body-the heart in earlier times, the head in latter-involves the action of the organism as a whole: within and dependent upon the details of its physical and social environment. Recent experiments with humans, and classic ones with animals, reveal the essential role played by perceptual and motor acts in shaping the character of thought. Cognition is redefined in terms of Aristotle's four causes: Occasioned by changes in the environment, its substrate is the nervous system-peripheral as well as central; it evolved to guide action, and may be represented as a special kind of automaton. Cognition is repositioned, from a species of mindwork to an activity pervading the body and the locale, without which it would be difficult to maintain, and would have been impossible to achieve.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Resituating Cognition.

Killeen¹,

Glenberg²

2010

CCBR

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“…(Kauffman, 1988) Why not share this truth with our students instead of attempting to conceal it? Along the same lines, Holton (1975) points out the apparent contradiction between the often "illogical" nature of actual discovery and the logical nature of well-developed physical concepts is perceived by some as a threat to the very foundations of science and rationality itself.…”

Section: Disadvantages Of the Use Of Historymentioning

confidence: 94%

History in the chemistry curriculum

Kauffman

1989

Interchange

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“…Science is objective with regard to its method and its objects, but scientific inquiry is a human process. Archetypes, themata (Holton 1975), academism, and fashion (Kuhn 1962a, b;Bachelard 1938) operate in scientists' minds without their being aware of it. Such biases are not negative per se.…”

Section: Cancer As a Scientific Object And Its 'Space-time' Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cancer research in need of a scientific revolution: Using ‘paradigm shift’ as a method of investigation

et al. 2015

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Despite important human and financial resources and considerable accumulation of scientific publications, patents, and clinical trials, cancer research has been slow in achieving a therapeutic revolution similar to the one that occurred in the last century for infectious diseases. It has been proposed that science proceeds not only by accumulating data but also through paradigm shifts. Here, we propose to use the concept of 'paradigm shift' as a method of investigation when dominant paradigms fail to achieve their promises. The first step in using the 'paradigm shift' method in cancer research requires identifying its founding paradigms. In this review, two of these founding paradigms will be discussed: (i) the reification of cancer as a tumour mass and (ii) the translation of the concepts issued from infectious disease in cancer research. We show how these founding paradigms can generate biases that lead to over-diagnosis and over-treatment and also hamper the development of curative cancer therapies. We apply the 'paradigm shift' method to produce perspective reversals consistent with current experimental evidence. The 'paradigm shift' method enlightens the existence of a tumour physiologic-prophylactic-pathologic continuum. It integrates the target/antitarget concept and that cancer is also an extracellular disease. The 'paradigm shift' method has immediate implications for cancer prevention and therapy. It could be a general method of investigation for other diseases awaiting therapy.

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On the Role of Themata in Scientific Thought

Cited by 118 publications

References 3 publications

Resituating Cognition.

Resituating Cognition.

History in the chemistry curriculum

Cancer research in need of a scientific revolution: Using ‘paradigm shift’ as a method of investigation

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