The paradigm and research program styles of thinking in terms of the contemporary philosophy of science

The article carries out a comparative analysis of T. Kuhn’s concept of paradigm and I. Lakatos’s research program - the two most popular conceptual frameworks used to describe the development of scientific knowledge in the context of different thinking styles. The authors show that the paradigmatic thinking style is more appropriate as a philosophic generalization of scientific knowledge in a particular area. The fundamental difference between the approaches advocated by I. Lakatos and T. Kuhn lies in their interpretation of anomalous empiric basis. In terms of the paradigmatic style of thinking the anomalies are regarded as something external, whereas according to the research program style the anomalies are predetermined by the program itself and serve for its further development.