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1. The falsifiability criterion is about meaning. 2. Failure to draw the distinction between falsifiability (a matter of logic and the form of statements) and falsification (a practical matter). 3. Scientists don’t practice falsification.

Giddens on the postpositivistic philosophy of science in Bottomore and Nisbet (eds) A History of Sociological Analysis, Basic Books, 1978. In the Questia library. After a lengthy account of the progress of positivism in the philosophy of science from theVienna Circleof … Continue reading →

When Popper’s longtime NZ friend Colin Simkin became seriously ill in the late 1990s a man flew into Sydney to interview him for a Popper biography. Brian Boyd came too late because Simkin was too ill to see him. A … Continue reading →

This year the Review of Austrian Economics did a retrospective on  Don Lavoie and the “hermeneutic” or “interpretive” turn that he initiated in the mid 1980s. Peter Boettke and David Prychitko explained why this was important and why 1985 could have been … Continue reading →

For some time I remained staunchly agnostic on the science of climate change, fortified by the fact that nothing that Australia does will make a difference, either directly to the climate or in leading the world. In some ways we … Continue reading →

We do not have direct experience of physical things: evidence is theory-laden. That is well-understood and generally regarded as true. Much less appreciated is that we do not have direct experience of abstract things either: self-evidence is theory-laden too. The … Continue reading →

Critical rationalism is sometimes mistaken to be little more than a call to be critical. Some object that advocacy of the critical attitude is hardly unique to critical rationalism; every first year philosophy student is instructed to be critical of … Continue reading →

Thanks for the feed from Daniel Barnes who said to read a great article here. It  is the site of our new contributor ‘d’. Welcome to the party d! Keep an eye on this site!! Good to have the disgusting … Continue reading →

I wrote this as a quick comment on d’s blog, but then the post disappeared for some reason. Anyway, I thought I’d share here.

Michael Williams Problems of Knowledge: A Critical Introduction to Epistemology, Oxford Uni Press, 2001. At Amazon. Ernest Sosa, of Brown University, writes A masterly introduction to epistemology and an original contribution, this book succeeds on both levels. Those who know … Continue reading →