Philosophy of Science
Exam Assignment – Philosophy of Science 2012
This essay will contain a comparison of the two philosophers Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn and their respective scientific theories. It is relevant because they both focused on the same problems and tried to find an explanation. They each had their own unique ideas and strived to answer the same questions, but their theories often clashed, leading to great discussion. Even with different views, their work has a great number of similarities and they often looked to one another in order to develop their own positions. The core of the debate between Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn is scientific progress and the evolution of science. In order to analyze this subject it is necessary to look into terms such as falsification, critical rationalism and paradigm relativism.
Karl Popper, critical rationalism and falsification
Karl Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was a well renowned philosopher and professor of Austrian and British descent. He is generally considered one of the most important philosophers of science and his work has had enormous influence in this field (Wikipedia: Karl Popper 03-12-2012). Popper’s point of view was critical rationalism which he developed immensely. Naturally, this is the basis for the discussion in this essay along with his theory on falsification.
The core of critical rationalism is that every scientific theory should be questioned and criticized rationally, in order to test the liability of the theory (Wikipedia: Critical rationalism 03-12-2012). A theory should constantly and continuously be subdued to critical rationalism to ensure that is at that moment the best and most truthful theory available. Through critical rationalism scientific theories can be questioned and thereby falsified if the theory is found to be inadequate. Implementing critical rationalism means that scientific theories are constantly progressing and thereby creating scientific evolution.
For instance, theories with
This essay will contain a comparison of the two philosophers Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn and their respective scientific theories. It is relevant because they both focused on the same problems and tried to find an explanation. They each had their own unique ideas and strived to answer the same questions, but their theories often clashed, leading to great discussion. Even with different views, their work has a great number of similarities and they often looked to one another in order to develop their own positions. The core of the debate between Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn is scientific progress and the evolution of science. In order to analyze this subject it is necessary to look into terms such as falsification, critical rationalism and paradigm relativism.
Karl Popper, critical rationalism and falsification
Karl Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was a well renowned philosopher and professor of Austrian and British descent. He is generally considered one of the most important philosophers of science and his work has had enormous influence in this field (Wikipedia: Karl Popper 03-12-2012). Popper’s point of view was critical rationalism which he developed immensely. Naturally, this is the basis for the discussion in this essay along with his theory on falsification.
The core of critical rationalism is that every scientific theory should be questioned and criticized rationally, in order to test the liability of the theory (Wikipedia: Critical rationalism 03-12-2012). A theory should constantly and continuously be subdued to critical rationalism to ensure that is at that moment the best and most truthful theory available. Through critical rationalism scientific theories can be questioned and thereby falsified if the theory is found to be inadequate. Implementing critical rationalism means that scientific theories are constantly progressing and thereby creating scientific evolution.
For instance, theories with