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Author: Oliver Moore
Date: 20050613
Four Paradigms: Part 1
This is the first, introductory, part of a longer text which will be posted in sections
Introduction and Overview
Real world events must be distinguished from the theories which explain them, and paradigms must be distinguished from theories. Paradigms are sets of basic assumptions from which groups of theories flow and according to which theories can be classified. Paradigms determine the way decision-makers and academics see the world; paradigms are the foundation of their explanations of the world; and paradigms are also their guide to action in the world. Thus paradigms are the bridge between perception and action, between epistemology and practice. They are the mechanism which translates our passive perception of the world into active exertion upon it.
I wish to outline four paradigms in their historical context, with particular emphasis on the newest. Realism and Marxism held great sway through the late 19th century and the first half or three quarters of the 20th. The post-war era saw the decline of these two paradigms and witnessed a growing consensus around a third paradigm. This third one was strongly liberal, institutionalist, and was characterised by an awareness of
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