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(8)PhilosophyofScience:WhataresomecritiqueswithinthephilosophyofscienceofPopper'sprincipleoffalsifiability?Quora

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TomMcFarlane,MastersinPhilosophyandReligion
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Asawaybywhichtodefinewhat'scientific'hypothesesvs'nonscientific'
hypothesesare,thecriterionoffalsifiabilitystatesthatscientifichypothesisare
exactlythosethatarefalsifiable,i.e.,theymakepredictionsthatcan,in
principle,befalsifiedbyexperiment.ThiswassetforthbyPopperasawayto
solvethedemarcationproblembetweenscienceandnonscience.
Onecritiqueisthatfalsifyingatheoryisnotassimpleasismayfirstappear.
TheDuhemQuinethesis pointsoutthatjustbecauseanexperimentalresult
contradictsapredictionofatheory,itdoesnotnecessarilyfollowthattheerror
residesinthetheory.(TheFasterthanlightneutrinoanomaly ,forexample,
contradictedEinstein'stheoryofrelativity,butitdidnotultimatelyfalsifyit
becauseitturnedoutthattherewasanexperimentalerror.Also,the
irregularitiesintheorbitofUranusdidnotfalsifyNewton'stheoryofgravity
becausetheexistenceofNeptune wasnotyetknown.)
Onecannotlogicallyconcludefromamismatchbetweentheoryand
experimentthatthetheoryisnecessarilyfalse.Theerrormaybeduetoany
numberofothercauses,knownorunknown.Forexample,themismatchmay
beduetoexperimentalerror,mistakesincalculatingthepredictionsfromthe
hypothesis,orauxiliaryassumptionsthathavebeenmade.Inaddition,as
pointedoutbyNorwoodRussellHanson ,experimentalfactsthemselvesare
theoryladen.So,wecannevertestatheoryagainst"pure"experimentalfacts,
independentofatheory(e.g.,atheoryusedtounderstandhowthe
experimentalapparatusoperates).Theseassumptionsandconditionsof
testingatheorycanbesonumerousthatfalsifyingatheory,inastrictlylogical
sense,isoftenpracticallyimpossible.

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Scientiststrytoteaseouttherootcauseofanymismatchbetweentheoryand
experimentbyperformingindependentexperimentsrepeatedlyinvarious
differentwaysbydifferentteams.Iftheirresultsagreewitheachotherbutnot
withthepredictionsofatheory,thenitbecomesmorelikelythatitisthetheory
itselfthatisatfaultthansomeotherassumption.Thisisstillshortoflogical
certainty,however.Thus,inpractice,atheorycannotbefalsifiedbyan
experimentthewayamathematicalpropositioncanbefalsifiedbyasingle
counterexample.
Now,becausefalsifyingtheoriesinpracticeisproblematicandnotclearcut,
thiscreatesaproblemforusingfalsifiabilityasthecriterionfordistinguishing
sciencefromnonscience.Onecanimagine,forexample,aclassofhypotheses
thatareinprinciplefalsifiablebutthatcannotinpracticebefalsifiedby
experiment(e.g.,thehypothesisthatsomewhereintheuniversethereisa
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8/25/2015

(8)PhilosophyofScience:WhataresomecritiqueswithinthephilosophyofscienceofPopper'sprincipleoffalsifiability?Quora

teapotorbitingaplanet).Forallpracticalpurposes,thisclassofhypotheses
wouldbenodifferentthanunfalsifiablemetaphysicalspeculations,yetthey
wouldbegiventhestatusofbeingclassifiedas'scientific'hypotheses
nonetheless.Inshort,falsifiabilityseemsnotsufficientlyrestrictive,admitting
as'scientific'somehypothesesthatdonotseemtowarrantsuchclassification.
Ontheotherhand,thereareinstanceswherefalsifiabilityseemstoorestrictive.
Forexample,classicalmechanicshasbeenfalsifiedbutisstillascientific
theory,albeitanapproximateoneonlyvalidwithincertainlimits.Another
exampleisahypothesislikeprotondecaywhich,strictlyspeaking,cannotbe
falsifiedbecausenomatterhowlongonefailedtoobservedecay,itremains
possiblethatitcouldstillhappen.Onecanonlysetstatisticalboundsonit.See
TomMcFarlane'sanswertoDoesaclaimhavetobefalsifiabletobeconsidered
ascientificclaim?andTomMcFarlane'sanswertoAreunfalsifiablequestions
ofanyuseorinteresttoscientificinquiry?
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PhilJones,Stillfiguringitout
Let'sprefacebysayingthatI'maPopperian.IregardmyselfasaCritical
Rationalistandconsiderthatthisistherightapproachtothinkingabout
thinkingandknowledge.Itresolvesmanyproblemsinepistemologyandoffers
acomprehensiveandethicalwaytoapproachtheworldasanepistemicagent.
BUT...
Popper's"falsificationism"obviouslycan'tdowhatit'snaivelybilledasbeing
abletodo,whichistoputscienceonthe"respectable"basisoflogical
deductionratherthanthelessrespectablelogicalinduction.

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Itcan'treallyeliminatesomekindofspeculativeinductive/generalizing
componenttodeliveringourscientificresults.Let'stakeareallysimplistic
example:supposeweconjecturethatallyparticlesfollowtheYLaw.Andso,
ifweseeayparticlethatviolatestheYLawthenweknowthatourYLaw
conjectureisfalsified.
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OK.Buthowdoweknowthatwewerereallyobservingayparticleinthefirst
place?Andnotaverysimilary'particlethatactslikeayinmostcircumstances
butnotthisone?Theansweris,wehavetoconjectureit.Soallour
observationsthatpotentiallykilltheYLawhypothesisare,themselves
dependentonthe"thisisay,notay'"conjecture.AndwhatisTHAT
conjecturebasedon?Probablyonaseriesofpreviousobservationsofthe
particleortheparticlegeneratingapparatuswhichleadustoassumethatit'sa
ygeneratorandnotay'generator.Inotherwords...oninduction.
Thisisjustonewaytophrasetheproblem.Youcanfindthiskindoftakedown
inmorerigourfrompeoplelikeHilaryPutnam .AndI'dguessit'simplicitin
NelsonGoodman.
92views2upvotesWritten2Feb,2015

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