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A Critical Examination Of Karl Popper's Falsification Principle
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1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Popper summits that the more a theory
is falsified, the more it becomes scientific. By this, every scientific
theory must be such that it can be refuted. This position is founded
upon Popper’s quest to demarcate science from pseudo-science. In as much
as the position looks plausible, there are problems that are associated
with it. These can be noted thus;
What happens with theories that are falsified?
If scientific hypothesis or theories are conjectures, why do they need refutation?
Should scientists abandon a theory because facts contradict it?
All these are problems that revolves around Popper’s theory of falsification.
1.3 AIM OF THE STUDY
The
study aims at re-examining the method of arriving at scientific truth,
the problem that are inherent in it and why Popper debunked it and opted
for a better method or theory. It further seeks to establish whether or
not Popper’s falsification theory is a better alternative or substitute
for testing the truth of scientific statements.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
study is significant because the notion of truth in science is
sometimes arrived at by hasty or faulty generalizations; thus, what is
believed to be the truth in science, that is, scientific truth often
turn out to be false or probable. Hence, to remove the obstacles that
hinder or disrupt scientific truth, we must examine Popper’s
falsification principle to see if it can aid scientists to know the
truth.
1.5 METHOD OF THE STUDY
This is a philosophical research
work; since philosophy is always critical in its outlook, we shall
therefore employ the methods of analysis, speculation and criticism to
the study at hand in order to have a synoptic understanding.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This
research work does not incorporate the entire works of Karl Popper, it
only deals with a section of his philosophy which is in the area of
philosophy of science and it will also be limited to his falsification
theory as an alternative theory of testing the truth of scientific
statements.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
The Falsification Principle:
A theory is falsifiable if it is capable of conflicting with observable
phenomena or events. Delanty and Strydom (44), opines that
“falsifiability is a principle which states that “it must be possible
for an empirical/scientific system to be refuted by experienceâ€. Thus, a
good scientific theory or statement must be capable of being falsified
or refuted by conceivable events; if there are no means of refuting the
theory, it implies that it is not scientific and should be abandoned or
rejected.
Induction: Traditionally, induction is viewed as an
argument which proceeds from particular instances to a general
conclusion. “It is an argument in which a particular conclusion is
derived from certain premises from the report of specific observationâ€
Aigbodioh (142). It is further described as that which give the
premise(s) give a supportive evidence for the truth of the conclusion to
the accepted. Mautners (273) defined induction as “inference from a
finite number of particular cases to a further case or to a general
conclusionâ€.
Verisimilitude: This term simply means truth content,
approximation to truth or nearer to the truth. It was used by Karl
Popper to explain that since cannot know or discover the truth but they
can only be closer to the truth.
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