Exemplar
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| - | '''Moral example''' is trust in the [[moral core]] of another, a [[role model]], without the obvious mediation of any theory or language. It was cited by [[Confucius]], [[Muhammad]], [[Mohandas Gandhi]] and other important philosophers and theologians as the prime duty of a ruler - including the head of a family or the owner of a business. | + | '''Exemplar,''' in the sense developed by [[philosophy of science|philosopher of science]] [[Thomas Samuel Kuhn|Thomas Kuhn]], is a well known usage of a [[Scientific theories|scientific theory]]. |
| - | This is considered far more important in some philosophies than satisfying any [[ethical code]] that originates elsewhere - although not more important than the [[moral code]] revealed by divinity or implied by compiling the lives of past moral examples, e.g. prophets, saints, righteous emperors. | + | According to Kuhn, scientific practice alternates between periods of [[normal science]] and extraordinary/revolutionary science. During periods of normalcy, scientists tend to subscribe to a large body of interconnecting knowledge, methods, and assumptions which make up the reigning [[paradigm]] (see [[paradigm shift]] for more information on Kuhn's model). Normal science presents a series of "puzzles" that are solved as scientists explore their field. The solution to some of these puzzles become well known and are the '''exemplars''' of the field. |
| - | This view has been criticized as leading to [[totalitarianism]] and an overly trusting [[civics]] - validated by history of China, India and Arabia to a degree. It is also true that since the exact circumstances and decisions of the lives of such moral examples cannot be reproduced or repeated, followers are often reduced to following their [[etiquette]] and customs, e.g. in [[ancestor worship]]. | + | Kuhn introduced the concept of exemplar in a postscript to the second edition of ''[[The Structure of Scientific Revolutions]]'' (1970). He noted that |
| + | :[b]ecause the term <nowiki>[</nowiki>paradigm<nowiki>]</nowiki> has assumed a life of its own ... I shall here substitute ‘exemplars.’ By it I mean, initially, the concrete problem-solutions that students encounter from the start of their scientific education, whether in laboratories, on examinations, or at the ends of chapters in science texts. ... All physicists, for example, begin by learning the same exemplars: problems such as the [[inclined plane]], the conical [[pendulum]], and [[Kepler's laws of planetary motion|Keplerian orbits]]; instruments such as the [[vernier scale|vernier]], the [[calorimeter]], and the [[Wheatstone bridge]]. | ||
| - | Since the lives of moral exemplars are not inspectable by people in the present, [[storytelling]] takes a central role in any culture built on moral example - leading to the idea of a 'moral of a story'. Taken to extremes, a complex culture built on such stories can soon fall prey to a clique of experts who interpret them for the lay public. This has led in the past to institutions that sort through anecdotes to decide which of them are true, e.g. [[isnad]] in [[Islam]] by which the [[hadith]] are validated. | + | Those who study a scientific discipline are expected to know its exemplars. There is no fixed set of exemplars, but for a physicist today it would certainly include such things as the [[harmonic oscillator]] from [[mechanics]] and the [[hydrogen atom]] from [[quantum mechanics]]. For a biologist today the set includes the population variations of the [[Peppered moth|European peppered moth]] (''Biston betularia'') and the [[convergent evolution]] of wings. They should also be familiar with ideas which have been discredited or otherwise proven false. |
| - | In modern life, [[celebrity|celebrities]] are often criticized for failing to provide moral examples. They respond sometimes by saying, that they felt comfortable as an 'inspiration' to others, but not as a 'role model'. | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| - | + | *[[Paradigm]] | |
| - | * [[moral core]] | + | *[[Paradigm shift]] |
| - | * [[moral code]] | + | *[[Scientific consensus]] |
| - | * [[moral lesson]] | + | *[[Theories and sociology of the history of science]] |
| - | * [[exemplar]] | + | |
| - | * [[ethics]] | + | |
| - | * [[civics]] | + | |
| - | * [[etiquette]] | + | |
| - | * [[Role model]] | + | |
| - | * [[Virtue ethics]] | + | |
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Exemplar, in the sense developed by philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn, is a well known usage of a scientific theory.
According to Kuhn, scientific practice alternates between periods of normal science and extraordinary/revolutionary science. During periods of normalcy, scientists tend to subscribe to a large body of interconnecting knowledge, methods, and assumptions which make up the reigning paradigm (see paradigm shift for more information on Kuhn's model). Normal science presents a series of "puzzles" that are solved as scientists explore their field. The solution to some of these puzzles become well known and are the exemplars of the field.
Kuhn introduced the concept of exemplar in a postscript to the second edition of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1970). He noted that
- [b]ecause the term [paradigm] has assumed a life of its own ... I shall here substitute ‘exemplars.’ By it I mean, initially, the concrete problem-solutions that students encounter from the start of their scientific education, whether in laboratories, on examinations, or at the ends of chapters in science texts. ... All physicists, for example, begin by learning the same exemplars: problems such as the inclined plane, the conical pendulum, and Keplerian orbits; instruments such as the vernier, the calorimeter, and the Wheatstone bridge.
Those who study a scientific discipline are expected to know its exemplars. There is no fixed set of exemplars, but for a physicist today it would certainly include such things as the harmonic oscillator from mechanics and the hydrogen atom from quantum mechanics. For a biologist today the set includes the population variations of the European peppered moth (Biston betularia) and the convergent evolution of wings. They should also be familiar with ideas which have been discredited or otherwise proven false.
See also
