Introduction Contributions in Epistemology Criticisms Summary and Discussion
EDA 387Q Systems of Human Inquiry
Karl Popper
(1902­1994)
No amount of experimentation can ever
prove me right; a single experiment can
prove me wrong. – Albert Einstein
Sheng‐Cheng (Hans) Huang, School of Information, The University of Texas at Austin
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Introduction Contributions in Epistemology Criticisms Summary and Discussion
Introduction
The Popperian Philosophy
• Historical position
• On the philosophy of science
• On social philosophy
• On metaphysics
• Criticisms and influences
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Introduction Contributions in Epistemology Criticisms Summary and Discussion
Introduction
From Positivism to Postpositivism
17th~18th century Positivism Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Comte…etc.
Vienna Circle
1920s ~ 1930s logical positivism: verificationism
Popper (Critical Rationalism)
1934 The Logic of Scientific Discovery: falsificationism
Postpositivism
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Introduction Contributions in Epistemology Criticisms Summary and Discussion
Contributions in Epistemology
The Two Fundamental Problems
• The problem of induction:
“Aristotle and Hume’s problem”
Aristotle David Hume
• The problem of demarcation:
“Bacon and Kant’s problem”
Francis Bacon Immanuel Kant
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Introduction Contributions in Epistemology Criticisms Summary and Discussion
Contributions in Epistemology
Popper’s Theses
• The insolubility of the logic
problem of induction
• Hypothetical knowledge and
preference for theories
• Demarcation between science
and pseudoscience
• Falsifiability as a criterion
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Introduction Contributions in Epistemology Criticisms Summary and Discussion
Contributions in Epistemology
Falsificationism
• A hypothesis is scientific if and only if
it has the potential to be refuted by
some possible observation.
Albert Einstein
• Confirmation is a myth.
• Retaining a tentative attitude is
important to scientists.
Karl Marx
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Introduction Contributions in Epistemology Criticisms Summary and Discussion
Contributions in Epistemology
Conjecture and Refutation
Conjecture:
Theoretical Proposition
The Falsification Cycle
Refutation:
Critical Examination
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Introduction Contributions in Epistemology Criticisms Summary and Discussion
Criticisms
Imprecise Theory of Scientific Practice
• Popper’s mistrust in inductive Tomas Kuhn
reasoning
• No place for accepting “established
theories”
Paul Feyerabend
• Defense of paradigm against
falsification
• Anything goes vs. ad hoc hypothesis
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Introduction Contributions in Epistemology Criticisms Summary and Discussion
Summary and Discussion
The Endless Quest for the Holy Grail
• A description of good scientific
behaviors
• The Holy Grail vs. non‐holy ones
• Practical influences in empirical
science
The Achievement of Galahad
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Introduction Contributions in Epistemology Criticisms Summary and Discussion
Summary and Discussion
References
• Godfrey‐Smith, P. (2003). Popper: conjecture and
refutation. In Godfrey‐Smith, P. (2003), Theory and
reality: An introduction to the philosophy of science
(pp. 57‐74). Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press.
• Keuth, H. (2005). The Philosophy of Karl Popper.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Zalta, E. ed. (2006). Karl Popper. Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, available at:
http://plato.stanford.edu/
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