Monthly Archives: August 2012

Science: An Effective Method?

A tacit assumption common in arguments concerning the scientific method, criteria of demarcation, experimental procedures, and so forth, is that scientific methods should be like effective methods for empirical problems. In logic, an effective method is a procedure for computing the … Continue reading

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What does Popper’s falsifiability criterion achieve?

Michael Kennedy writes on the criticism page: Popper’s falsifibility criterion is only a necessary condition for scientific status. If by demarcation criterion we mean a frontier with scientific statements on one side of the line and non-science on the other … Continue reading

Posted in epistemology, science | 27 Comments

The Essence of Trooth

The debate concerning so-called ‘theories of truth’ has always stumped me, because it seems prima facie absurd. When I use the predicate ‘is true’, what I’m referring to is correspondence to the facts. The purpose of all my investigations is, … Continue reading

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Induction Smuggling and Other Crimes

The Gordian Knot is a legend of Phrygian Gordium associated with Alexander the Great. It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem solved easily by cheating or ‘thinking outside the box.’ In Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach, Karl … Continue reading

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