The Language of Science as Creole: A Case Against Incommensurability

The incommensurability thesis (IT) is the claim that historically related theories cannot be fully translated into each other. IT shows how a scientific theory can be different from its predecessor in a way deemed revolutionary. This dissertation, in contrast, argues that IT reflects the development of science only from the perspective of the observer looking from afar. IT does not engage with science as a participant-driven activity. Analysts like philosophers can never directly engage science but can approximate the scientist perspective by peering over the shoulders of participants through detailed historical case studies. Zooming in this way, one can see IT dissolve. The discontinuity IT modeled is now a consequence of rather than a break from the continuity of scientific work. The dissertation introduces the notion of the language of science as creole to reconcile the observer and participant perspectives. This results in a need to abandon the influential historiography of Thomas Kuhn and begin the search for an alternative. The dissertation also considers implications outside of science studies and argues that practical endeavours like business innovation studies can no longer take guidance from Kuhn. They should be redirected.

Chapter 1 traces the history of IT, outlining three periods of Kuhn’s thought that saw it move from a consequence of the notion of paradigm to his core concern. Chapter 2 considers reactions to Kuhn’s ideas, both friendly and hostile, that result in two key charges: IT is either self-conflicted or it is irrelevant to how science develops. The chapter also identifies a key gap in the literature, namely that both Kuhn and his interlocutors fail to discover the confusion that IT treats a past stage of one’s language and a foreign language as equivalently different from current speech. Chapter 3 advances the notion of the development of the language of science as creole formation. Creoles show how to reconcile the dialectic of continuity and discontinuity that alone can fuel progress. Chapter 4 shows how the notion science as creole can lead to a more actionable philosophy of science that provides a firmer intellectual basis for business innovation policy and practices.