What is a Paradigm? A Brief Inquiry on the Normativity and Visibility of Models in Antiquity

This essay explores the multifaceted concept of paradeigma (παράδειγμα) in ancient thought, tracing its semantic, pragmatic, and philosophical dimensions across a range of contexts – from artisanal and architectural practices to Platonic metaphysics, rhetorical theory, and moral education. Anchored in the dual axes of normativity and visibility, the study argues that paradigms function as normative references whose authority depends on their recognizability and exemplarity within specific cultural, practical, and pedagogical frameworks. By analyzing key ancient sources, including Plato’s Timaeus, Republic, Sophist, and Politicus, Aristotle’s Rhetoric, and the rhetorical writings of Isocrates, the essay reconstructs how paradigms guide action, shape learning, and support ethical deliberation. Whether as models of production, heuristic tools in philosophical inquiry, rhetorical instruments in deliberative speech, or moral exempla in political discourse, paradigms act as dynamic devices that mediate between past and present, offering culturally intelligible standards for imitation, judgment, and decision-making. Rather than defining a fixed essence, paradeigmata reflect historically embedded practices of comparison and exemplarity, emphasizing their essential role in the moral and epistemic formation of individuals and communities.

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