Why Is Kuhn's View Of Scientific Theory Still Relativist?

In “Objectivity, Value Judgment, and Theory Choice,” Thomas Kuhn responds to critics who claim that his view of science is relativist. They claim that according to his view, theory choice is solely a matter of subjective opinion rather than one that should be based on objective reasons and facts. In response, Kuhn argues that objective criteria alone are not sufficient to choose a good scientific theory. Rather, theory choice consists of both objective criteria and subjective factors. In this paper, I aim to argue that Kuhn’s view of theory choice does reflect how scientists choose theories and that it is not a relativist view. However, his view of how science works is ultimately still relativist because of his notion of incommensurability.

It is important to note that he substitutes ‘paradigm’ for ‘theory.’ When he talks about theory choice, he is referring to scientists choosing to stay with an existing paradigm or accepting the new paradigm. Kuhn starts off by listing the five characteristics that a good scientific theory should have. First, a theory should be accurate. Predictions from a theory should match observations made. Predictions of a theory should also match the results of existing experiments. Second, a theory should be consistent. A theory should be internally consistent and also externally consistent with other accepted theories. Third, a theory should have broad scope. A theory should be able to explain more than the data (observations, laws, or subtheories) it was initially designed for. It should also be able to explain future data that is yet to be observed and was previously unexplainable. Fourth, a theory should be simple. It should provide the simplest explanation for phenomena that were previously confused. It does so by organizing and bringing order to such phenomena. Fifth, a theory should be fruitful. It should provide scientists new areas for research by disclosing new phenomena or new relationships previously

In other words, these are the objective criteria that all scientists consider when choosing a scientific theory. Kuhn considered these criteria to be the “shared basis for theory choice,” (Kuhn, 1973, p.322) which he and all scientists shared for rationally choosing scientific theories. Furthermore, Kuhn states that he “agree(s) entirely with the traditional view that they play a vital role when scientists must choose between an established theory and an upstart competitor.” (Kuhn, 1973, p.322) The traditional view he refers to is the view that the justification of theory choice should be based on objective factors. Thus, in response to his critics, Kuhn was saying that he did not discount the role objective factors played in choosing a good scientific theory. In his view of theory choice, these objective factors also play a vital role. However, what he objected to was the view that theory choice was purely