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Piaget No `Remedy' for Kuhn, But the Two Should be Read Together

Comment on Tsou's `Piaget vs. Kuhn on Scientific Progress'

YORK UNIVERSITY, jtburman{at}yorku.ca

In arguing that the philosophical works of Jean Piaget could be used as a `remedy' for the flaws in those of Thomas Kuhn, Tsou overlooked some crucial aspects of the problem: the early history between them, the biological foundation supporting Piaget's method, and a preexisting suggestion regarding the intended future extension of his work. There was also no mention of the existence of a `lost' manuscript by Kuhn, which supposedly presents the mature articulation of his theory. This comment therefore proposes some `friendly amendments' to Tsou's exposition, with a view to helping achieve his synthetic vision once the `lost' work has finally been published. Yet the basic message, in anticipation of this future endeavor, is also exceedingly simple: the implicit direction of Piaget's (and Kuhn's) epistemological constructivism can be characterized as evolutionary-developmental `progress from,' rather than vitalist-teleological `progress toward.'

Key Words: constructivism • evolutionary epistemology • genetic epistemology • hermeneutics of action • Kuhn • philosophy of science • Piaget • plurality of worlds • progress • psychological evo-devo

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