- "Falsifiability is a deductive standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses, introduced by the philosopher of science Karl Popper..."
The criterion used to determine whether a scientific theory can be tested and potentially disproven.
Scientific Method: A systematic approach to scientific inquiry, consisting of observation, hypothesis formation, experimentation, and data analysis.
Empiricism: The belief that knowledge is derived from sensory experience and observation of the physical world.
Verificationism: The view that only statements that are subject to empirical verification are meaningful and that all other statements are meaningless.
Logical Positivism: A philosophical movement that emerged in the early 20th century and sought to demonstrate the verifiability of empirical knowledge.
Falsificationism: The view that scientific theories should be formulated in a way that makes them falsifiable, subject to possible refutation by empirical data.
Inductivism: The belief that scientific knowledge is based on the accumulation of empirical data and the inference of general principles from that data.
Popper's Method of Conjectures and Refutations: A methodology for formulating scientific hypotheses that involves putting forward conjectures and attempting to falsify them through empirical testing.
Kuhnian Paradigm Shifts: A theory that scientific revolutions occur when a dominant paradigm or worldview is replaced by a new one that better explains empirical observations.
Lakatosian Research Programs: A theory of scientific inquiry that emphasizes the importance of research programs rather than individual hypotheses, and suggests that scientific progress is made through the refinement and testing of such programs.
Bayesian Confirmation Theory: A mathematical framework for assessing the probability of hypotheses in light of new evidence, and for updating these probabilities over time as new evidence becomes available.
Logical falsifiability: The assertion can be shown to be logically inconsistent or contradictory. For example, the claim that all dogs are mammals, and some dogs are not mammals, is logically falsifiable.
Empirical falsifiability: The assertion can be tested against empirical evidence. For example, the claim that all swans are white can be falsified by observing a black swan.
Methodological falsifiability: The assertion can be tested if the appropriate method or procedure is followed. For example, a scientific hypothesis can only be falsified if it is subjected to rigorous experimentation.
Predictive falsifiability: The assertion can be shown to make incorrect predictions. For example, the claim that a certain medication will cure a particular illness, but it does not, is predictably falsifiable.
Cognitive falsifiability: The assertion can be demonstrated to be inconsistent with established empirical knowledge. For example, the assertion that the Earth is flat is cognitively falsifiable because it contradicts established scientific knowledge of the Earth's shape.
Social or practical falsifiability: The assertion can be shown to be socially or practically unfeasible. For example, the claim that everyone should have equal access to healthcare can be falsified on the grounds that it is not practically feasible in many social and economic contexts.
Conceptual falsifiability: The assertion can be shown to be conceptually incoherent or unintelligible. For example, the claim that 2+2=5 is conceptually falsifiable because it contradicts basic mathematical concepts.
Moral falsifiability: The assertion can be shown to be morally wrong or inconsistent with ethical principles. For example, the assertion that slavery is morally acceptable can be falsified on the grounds that it contradicts basic ethical principles of human freedom and dignity.
- "...its purpose is to make the theory predictive and testable, and thus useful in practice."
- "...falsifiability is distinct from the related concept 'capacity to be proven wrong' discussed in Lakatos' falsificationism."
- "Popper contrasted falsifiability to the intuitively similar concept of verifiability that was then current in logical positivism."
- "His argument goes that the only way to verify a claim such as 'All swans are white' would be if one could theoretically observe all swans, which is not possible."
- "Instead, falsifiability searches for the anomalous instance, such that observing a single black swan is theoretically reasonable and sufficient to logically falsify the claim."
- "...the Duhem–Quine thesis says that definitive experimental falsifications are impossible and that no scientific hypothesis is by itself capable of making predictions."
- "According to Popper there is a clean asymmetry on the logical side and falsifiability does not have the Duhem problem because it is a logical criterion."
- "Experimental research has the Duhem problem and other problems, such as induction..."
- "...according to Popper, statistical tests, which are only possible when a theory is falsifiable, can still be useful within a critical discussion."
- "Philosophers such as Deborah Mayo consider that Popper 'comes up short' in his description of the scientific role of statistical and data models."
- "...falsifiability has featured prominently in many scientific controversies and applications, even being used as legal precedent."