Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Normal science under paradigms is punctuated by revolutionary changes that are not strictly cumulative — and competing paradigms are incommensurable
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | The Structure of Scientific Revolutions |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Immediate |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Immediate |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | None |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Constructed |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Historical time of scientific change is real but non-cumulative across revolutions. Punctuated equilibrium rather than continuous progress.
Space
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Not directly engaged; standard scientific background.
Matter
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The phlogiston of pre-Lavoisier chemistry and the oxygen of post-Lavoisier chemistry are real, but they are not the "same thing seen differently" — they belong to incommensurable conceptual frameworks. Relational ontology of theoretical entities.
Observer
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The scientific observer is embedded in a paradigm-shaped community. Knowledge is immediate within a paradigm and discontinuous across them. Moral authority is constructed by the scientific community.
Energy
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Standard scientific framework presupposed.
Information
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Theory-laden observation: data is real only within a paradigm. Information is relational and non-conserved across paradigm changes.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The "incommensurability" thesis has been the most-disputed claim. Strong readings make paradigm comparison impossible; weak readings make it harder but not impossible. Kuhn's 1970 Postscript and later writings (The Road Since Structure, 2000) worked through these qualifications. The relation between Kuhn and Popper, and between Kuhn and Feyerabend, defines mid-twentieth-century philosophy of science.