On Paradigms and Revolutions in Science and Art: The Challenge of Interpretation

Several years ago, the art historian E.M. Hafner suggested that the history of art has many similarities to the history of science. He suggested that art, like science, has paradigms that undergo revolutions. T.S. Kuhn, the historian of science who had coined the term “paradigm shift” to describe scientific revolutions, was asked to comment. His response was, in part, as follows: