Criticisms (Scientific method in the three worlds. ) To introduce this section, it is useful to recall the central points of Popperian philosophy which are conducive to a critical analysis of refutability. For Popper, falsifiability concerns only the logical relationship … Read More
Before Popper, Kant had proposed a solution to Hume’s problem that also called for knowledge that relates to the world of observations while preceding those observations. The difference is that, for Kant, this knowledge is a priori truths, which puts … Read More
Among the attempts to dismantle the first horn of Hume’s fork, Henderson mentions Kant’s approach discussed later and that of Bayes. Bayesian logic is not ampliative: it does not provide more information than that contained in the premises and observations. … Read More
According to Popper, falsifiability provides a solution to the problem of induction, raised by Hume, and to that of demarcation, which he also calls Kant’s problem. Popper explains that he was influenced by Kant, but benefited from a different context: … Read More
Falsifiability (also referred to as the use of refutability) was introduced by Karl Popper and is considered an important concept in epistemology, allowing to draw a line between scientific theories and those that are not. An assertion, a hypothesis, is … Read More
Popper’s supporters argued that most criticism is based on an incomprehensible interpretation of his ideas. They argue that Popper should not be interpreted as meaning that falsifiability is a sufficient condition for the demarcation of science. Some passages seem to … Read More
Thomas Kuhn criticized falsifiability because it characterized “the entire scientific enterprise in terms that apply only to its occasional revolutionary parts,” (Kuhn 1970) and it cannot be generalized. In Kuhn’s view, a delimitation criterion must refer to the functioning of … Read More
Dogmatic falsifiability refers to scientific statements considered individually. These can be falsified and, depending on the outcome, scientific theories can be considered falsifiable and accepted, refuted, or can be maintained by adding ad-hoc hypotheses: ” There is one important method … Read More
The delimitation between science and pseudoscience is part of the more general task of determining which beliefs are epistemologically justified. Science can be described as partly descriptive, partly normative. A definition of science can focus on descriptive content and specify … Read More
Karl Popper, as a critical rationalist, was an opponent of all forms of skepticism, conventionalism and relativism in science. In 1935 he wrote Logik der Forschung. Zur Erkenntnistheorie der modernen Naturwissenschaft, later translating the book into English and publishing it under the … Read More
