1. Theory of Falsification and its evolution

6. Laws of motion "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done." [17] Newton may have rejected the church's doctrine of the Trinity. Newton refashioned the world governed by an interventionist God into a world crafted by a God that designs along rational and universal principles. [24] These principles were available for all people to discover, allowed people to pursue their own aims fruitfully in this life, not the next , and to perfect themselves with their own rational powers. [25] Sir Isaac Newton ( 1643 – 1727 )

8. 18th Century Epistemologist Rationalism Descartes Spinoza Leibniz Empiricism Locke Berkeley Hume Wolff Kant It is our ideas which give form to reality, not reality which gives form to our ideas.

9. All A observed so far are B. [i.e. All A are B] X is an A not yet observed. [i.e. X is not an A] Therefore X is B. [X is B.] What does it take to confirm a universal generalization? Logical Problem of Induction Deductive logic (drastically oversimplified): All A are B. X is an A. Therefore X is B. Inductive logic All copper we have tested conducts electricity. X is a piece of copper yet to be tested. Therefore X will conduct electricity.

13. Einstein’s General Relativity: If it had failed its famous test of 1919, no one would have taken it seriously. But it passed the test, and Newton’s theory of gravitation was refuted. Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Light from a star passing near the Sun should be deflected. The evidence is the displacement of the star’s apparent position. Empirical Test of General Relativity

14. Falsification of Darwinian Evolution Richard Dawkins said that "If there were a single hippo or rabbit in the Precambrian, that would completely blow evolution out of the water. None have ever been found. Human DNA should be more similar to great apes than other mammals. If this is not the case, then common descent is falsified. Popper said that natural selection "is not a testable scientific theory but a metaphysical research program". However, Popper later said "I have changed my mind about the testability and logical status of the theory of natural selection, and I am glad to have the opportunity to make a recantation." "Darwin's own most important contribution to the theory of evolution, his theory of natural selection, is difficult to test." However, "[t]here are some tests, even some experimental tests; and in some cases, such as the famous phenomenon known as 'industrial melanism', we can observe natural selection happening under our very eyes, as it were. Nevertheless, really severe tests of the theory of natural selection are hard to come by, much more so than tests of otherwise comparable theories in physics or chemistry." The model of cultural evolution known as memetics is as of yet unfalsifiable

15. Popperian Cosmology World 1 : the world of physical objects and events , including biological entities World 2 : the world of mental objects and events World 3 : the world of the products of the human mind

16. Critical Rationalism Critical Rationalism is the acceptance of human fallibility Critical Rationalism: Scientific theories , and any other claims to knowledge, can and should be rationally criticized, and (if they have empirical content) can and should be subjected to tests which may falsify them. Fallibilism Evolutionary Epistemology The mere fact that a theory has survived the most rigorous empirical tests available does not, in the calculus of probability, predict its ability to survive future testing Evolutionary epistemologists argue that units of knowledge themselves, particularly scientific theories , evolve according to selection Brian Skyrms

21. Multiple Realizability Contrary to the famous claim of type-identity theory, it was not true that "pain is identical to C- fibre firing." Against Type-Identity functional isomorphism = "Two systems are functionally isomorphic if there is a correspondence between the states of one and the states of the other that preserves functional relations." Functionalism is a theory of the mind in contemporary philosophy , developed largely as an alternative to both the identity theory of mind and behaviorism . Its core idea is that mental states (beliefs, desires, being in pain, etc.) are constituted solely by their functional role — that is, their causal relations to other mental states, sensory inputs, and behavioral outputs. Hilary Whitehall Putnam

24. Holism Math logic The totality of our so-called knowledge or beliefs ... is a man-made fabric which impinges on experience only along the edges ... A conflict with experience at the periphery occasions readjustments in the interior of the field ... But the total field is so undetermined by its boundary conditions, experience, that there is much latitude of choice as to what statements to re-evaluate in the light of any single contrary experience ... If this view is right, it is misleading to speak of the empirical content of an individual statement ...