Terminology Tuesday: Paradigm
Model or exemplar. The term was used by Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions to refer to a pattern of thinking and explanation embodied in the practices and assumptions that are taken for granted by a particular scientific community. The paradigm of a given scientific community makes possible what Kuhn calls “normal science.” Paradigms are not falsifiable in the ordinary way but must be overthrown in a scientific revolution, which makes possible a new paradigm.
Evans, C. S. (2002). Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (p. 88). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.