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Incommensurability and conceptual change during the copernican revolution

Peter Barker

pp. 241-273

Abstract

Kuhn's latest account locates incommensurability as a mismatch between taxonomies of natural kind terms. In collaboration with Hanne Andersen (University of Copenhagen) and Xiang Chen (California Lutheran University) I have developed a more general account along the same lines using the dynamic frame notation introduced by cognitive psychologist Lawrence Barsalou (Emory University, Atlanta). Here I apply a simplified version of this model to the conceptual systems of Ptolemaic, Copernican and Keplerian astronomy. I conclude that Copernicus's astronomy is only minimally incommensurable with Ptolemy's, but that Kepler's is strongly incommensurable with both.

Publication details

Published in:

Sankey Howard (2001) Incommensurability and related matters. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 241-273

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-015-9680-0_10

Full citation:

Barker Peter (2001) „Incommensurability and conceptual change during the copernican revolution“, In: H. Sankey (ed.), Incommensurability and related matters, Dordrecht, Springer, 241–273.