Study Guide: Chapter 5 — The Priority of Paradigms

Core Concept

Paradigms are deeper than rules: communities cohere on shared concrete exemplars even when they can't agree on definitions. Knowledge transmits through worked examples and trained similarity-perception.

Key Terms

Exemplar · family resemblance · tacit knowledge · similarity relations

Case Summary

Physics education: force is learned through the inclined plane and pendulum, not through definitions. Practitioners hesitate on rules, converge on problems.

Application Checklist

• [ ] Curate three gold-standard exemplars for your team's craft
• [ ] Test: same definitions, divergent cases? Your practice is fragmenting
• [ ] Rewrite one rules-document as a worked-examples document

Self-Test

1. Why can research proceed coherently without agreed rules?
2. Wittgenstein's contribution to this chapter?
3. Disciplinary matrix vs exemplar — which is "philosophically deeper" and why?