LAS CIENCIAS SOCIALES EN EL MODELO KUHNIANO DE LA CIENCIA: Cincuenta años desde La estructura de las revoluciones cientificas/THE ROLE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES IN KUHN'S IMAGE OF SCIENCE: Fifty years since The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

This paper analyzes Thomas Kuhn's position on the epistemological status of the social sciences. His most popular work, The structure of the scientific revolutions, developed the notions of "paradigm" and "revolution" to understand scientific change. It aroused great interest among social scientists, even though it was devised having in mind the natural sciences exclusively. An interesting alternative here is Larry Laudan's "reticulated" model. Taking it into account I argue that the Kuhnian distinction between "normal science" and "revolutionary science" is too schematic. In fact it does not throw light on the differences between the natural sciences and the social sciences as they are at present. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]