for a time as supplying the foundation for its further practice." ¹ It transpires, as he goes on to elaborate what he means by the
term and explain the way he uses it, that it connotes and in-
cludes the conception of the basic elements of physical reality
and the overall view of the universe tacitly assumed by the
scientific community concerned. What Kuhn calls a paradigm
is, in effect, what Collingwood called the constellation of abso-
lute presuppositions of science in a particular historical period,
absolute presuppositions being what give rise to scientific ques-
tions and are not themselves answers to such questions. ² This
constellation of absolute presuppositions, he said, was the task
of metaphysics to discover, by logical analysis of scientific as-
sertions. In fact, the absolute presuppositions of science turn
out to be the metaphysical doctrine that constitutes its unac-
knowledged foundation. What these thinkers have in mind is
the presumed world view characteristic of a particular histori-
cal period or epoch, what I prefer to call the conceptual scheme
fundamental to systematic thinking at that time.

The use of the term "paradigm," inspired by Kuhn, has now
become customary and is so common that, as long as it is un-
derstood in the way I propose, it will be convenient to adopt it
when referring to such a conceptual scheme. But we must rec-
ognize that, although the paradigm is established mainly by
science and made explicit by philosophers, it is basic to a form
of civilization and affects every facet and aspect of civilized
life in the given epoch.

Few will deny that the outstanding characterstic of contem-
porary civilization is the dominating position of science. In one
form or another, science permeates everything people do all
over the world. Science cares for our health, and its technical
inventions examine our bodies and test our vital functions. Our
pastoral and agricultural methods are governed by technology
that science has generated. Scientific appliances wash our
clothes and our dishes, sweep our floors, heat our homes, and
cook our food. Scientific inventions provide our entertainment,
our means of communication, and our transport. They impart
our news and information. They write our books and convey
our correspondence. At one extreme they invade our most inti-

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