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Questions tagged [popper]

Sir Karl Raimund Popper (1902 – 1994) was an Austrian philosopher. He is noted for critical rationalism and promoting empirical falsification in science.

The following are some sources for more information about Popper.

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What basis do we have for certainty in current scientific theories?

Given there is much past scientific belief that we now know NOT to be true, what basis do we have for the seemingly increasing certainty in our scientific beliefs held today being true? On the one hand, we prize Popperian falsifiability and yet…
James Tauber
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What responses have there been to Popper's idea of theory-laden observation?

One of the most appealing parts of Karl Popper's philosophy for me is the idea of theory-laden observation. To provide an unjust summary: whenever you are making an observation-statement to question some theory, you are relying on some background…
Artem Kaznatcheev
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Why does Popper think there are no a priori synthetic statements?

Lately I´ve been reading Poppers "Logic of Scientific Discovery" and I am especially interested in his critics of induction as a scientific method. When he trys to show that a principle of induction can´t be formulated, he writes: Kant tried to…
Lukas
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Does Popper's theory of falsification apply to mathematics?

Mathematics is generally & popularly judged a science in the basic duality: science - humanities. As enemies and collaborationists. The border heavily & fiercely policed. However, it seems to me that Poppers theory, which entitles science-hood by…
Mozibur Ullah
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What's the relevance of falsifiability in regards to logical arguments?

Is it reasonable to classify logical propositions that rely on deduction and are non-falsifiable as being inherently not worthy pursuing or does this just applies to inductive reasoning?
Trinidad
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Is a theory that can only be disproved with an infeasable test still scientific?

If I understand Karl Popper's reasoning correctly, a theory is 'scientific' if there can be devised a test that tries to disprove it; i.e., it must be falsifiable. Now, imagine a theory that theoretically we could build a test to disprove it, but it…
yarony
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Does Karl Popper's work address the Principle of Uniformity of Nature?

It seems to me that Popper's solution does not address the more difficult problem of induction that Hume calls the Principle of Uniformity of Nature. In other words, we might find evidence against a scientific claim not because it was incorrect…
Jon 'links in bio' Ericson
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Does going from a singular to existential statement make it non-scientific for Popper?

In "The Logic of Scientific Discovery" (section 15) Popper argues that an 'isolated' (a term he introduced in the English translation, which seems to be used in a very vague way) purely existential statement is not falsifiable, since its negation…
Artem Kaznatcheev
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What are some responses to Popper's "The Open Society and Its Enemies"?

Can you recommend a good reference to answer the critiques in Popper's "The Open Society and Its Enemies"? I am especially interested in responses to the Marx section of the book.
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Is Popper's Solution to the Problem of Induction still valid?

Popper (negativly) solved the problem of induction by showing that there is no class of sentences (analytic/synthetic, a priori/a posteriori) in which a principle of induction can be phrased without invoking an infinite regress or admitting…
Lukas
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Why did Karl Popper criticize Karl Marx's ideas?

Karl Popper believed that Karl Marx's ideas lead to dictatorship. Why did Karl Popper believe in this idea?
keramus
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What is wrong with Popper's theory of falsification?

Popper popularized the notion that empirical science can not be verified, only falsified. Isn't he right? How can someone verify a theory? To me, it does not seem possible. However, you can easily falsify a theory. I've searched the web for some…
Jordan Goulet
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A Popper question about corroboration

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_induction#Karl_Popper The rational motivation for choosing a well-corroborated theory is that it is simply easier to falsify: Well-corroborated means that at least one kind of experiment (already…
user3306
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Why do we need a reason for believing that inductive method is necessarily true?

I've been a bit perplexed about the "problem" of induction. Hume challenges other philosophers to come up with a deductive reason for the inductive connection. If the justification of induction cannot be deductive, then it would beg the…
Annotations
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How does Popper overcome this critique?

Suppose P and Q are falsifiable theories (in the Popperian sense). Then it seems to me that 'P and Q' is a falsifiable theory (we can refute it by refuting A, or by refuting B), and so too is 'P or Q' (we can refute it by refuting both A and B).…
goblin GONE
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