Siateczkowy model rozwoju nauki a struktura racjonalnego działania

In the paper I put to analysis the reticulated model of scientific change, introduced by Larry Laudan in his Science and Values, aiming at reconstruction of the concept of rationality it presupposes. In elaborating on the model's structure I draw on Jurgen Habermas' s theory of speech acts and discuss the concept of instrumental rationality. I argue that in the area of philosophy of science, the model heralds the demise of a classical ideal of rationality, based solely on the notion of justification of judgments. My claim is that reticulated model demands that the analytical paradigm, the scope of which remains confined to a semantic dimension of science, should be replaced with a properly understood instrumental model of rationality, displaying both semantic and pragmatic facet of cognition.