The arguments for and against Thomas Kuhn's paradigmatic thesis are presented in this paper as a means of discussing the appropriateness of Kuhn's thesis to the emerging composition discipline. Section one of the paper introduces the topic, noting how the term paradigm is used in composition to define a system of widely shared values, beliefs, and methods that determines the nature and conduct of the discipline. Section two discusses the ways critics have attacked Kuhn's thesis, focusing on four major problems with Kuhn's notions of paradigms, how they work, and how they replace one another. Section three considers the possible operations of paradigms within composition research and pedagogy, especially as the process-oriented paradigm has emerged to overtake the current-traditional (product-oriented) paradigm of composition theory. (RL)