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"One of the main tasks for human reason is to make the universe we live in understandable to ourselves. This is the task of science. There are two different components of about equal importance in this enterprise. The first is poetic inventiveness ..."
– Karl Popper
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Category Archives: science
Stephen Toulmin on Popper
Given the high marks assigned to Toulmin for his commentary on Kuhn and the affinity of his program with that of Popper (evolutionary epistemology vs formalism) , what does he say about Popper? The short answer is that he dismissed … Continue reading
Posted in epistemology, science
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More on Stephen Toulmin and Kuhn
Finishing the story of Toulmin’s critique of Kuhn. He traced the evolution of Kuhn’s ideas through five stages (1) his account in The Copernican Revolution (1957), (2) a public talk about revolutions at Worcester College in Oxford in 1961, (3) … 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
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Does Science Presuppose the Existence of Regularity in Nature?
A popular criticism of Popper’s scientific method is that he “smuggled induction in through the back door.” Contrary to claims of having done away with it altogether, Popper’s proposed method of science actually presupposes induction. Therefore, critics argue, Popper failed … Continue reading
Posted in logic, science
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Howson on Deutsch
In Chapter 7 of his book The Fabric of Reality, David Deutsch has a dialogue in which he discusses critical rationalism with a crypto-inductivist, a philosopher who thinks there is an induction shaped hole in his worldview although he agrees … Continue reading
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Disagreement vs. Justificationism
Justificationists often complain that Popper’s philosophy doesn’t enable us to pick out one scientific theory as being decisively the best at any particular time. But there is something extremely odd about this objection. Critical rationalists advocate various restrictions on what … Continue reading
Posted in epistemology, science
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Stanford Encylopedia Criticisms
This is a follow up to Rafe’s post The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy vs Karl Popper in which I reply to the Encyclopedia’s criticism of Popper’s position. Continue reading
Posted in epistemology, science
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Knowledge and Biology
Many people I have discussed Popper with seem confused by Popper tying together evolution and epistemology in his book Objective Knowledge and other places. Evolution, they say, is all about biology and epistemology is about what people think. I’m going to try to clear up this confusion. Continue reading
Posted in biology, epistemology, evolution, science
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Essentialism
Anti-essentialism is a Popperian idea that many people are either unaware of or do not understand. Many people are essentialists, particularly people who think they understand philosophy, but essentialism is a bad mistake. There are two separate ideas that Popper … Continue reading
Posted in epistemology, essentialism, science
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Review: Popper, Otto Selz and the Rise of Evolutionary Epistemology by Michel ter Hark
“Popper, Otto Selz and the Rise of Evolutionary Epistemology” by Michel ter Hark is historically interesting and philosophically provocative. Continue reading
Posted in biology, epistemology, evolution, logic, science
61 Comments