The philosopher Thomas Kuhn believes that scientists adopt certain distinct paradigms that are tenaciously retained, and are abandoned only in the face of glaring absurdities. These paradigms help to shape scientific theories, and exercise a powerful influence over the methodology of science and the conclusions drawn from experiments.
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This notion of a scientific paradigm can be understood as an ontology that is construed on the basis of specific epistemological assumptions. A paradigm shift can thus be just an ontological shift or an entire epistemological shift.
For example, the shift from the absolute space and time of Newton to the relative space-time of Einstein was an ontological shift within the epistemological assumptions of Galilean science.
Quantum physics, on the other hand, is inconsistent with such assumptions, and requires an epistemological shift that accommodates its finding that, as John Wheeler puts it, 'no phenomenon is a real phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon'. This includes the epistemological shift from 'meaning as transcendent' to 'meaning as immanent'.
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