Thomas S. Kuhn as sociologist of knowledge.

In this article the author focuses on the controversy surrounding sociologist Thomas S. Kuhn's book entitled "The Structure of Scientific Revolution." The author here makes two points that are raised for sociology by Kuhn's argument. The first point will detail the non-radical and the radical responses to his account, both responses being characterized by a belief that Kuhn's argument about natural scientific development somehow legitimates the sort of sociology they are currently practicing. The second point is that it does not follow from this that Kuhn is of no interest to sociologists; on the contrary, he has an extremely interesting although limited sociology of natural scientific knowledge. What are the non-radical and radical sociological reactions that have developed or could develop in response to this thesis? Central to both and to Kuhn's argument is the notion of a paradigm. The none radical sociological reaction is the claim that if sociology is to develop it must transcend the present situation where there are multitudinous pre-pre-paradigms competing with each other, where work is done at all sorts of levels and significance, and where there is excessive methodological neurosis.