Property of a statement that can be logically contradicted
Here are two black swans, but even with no black swans to possibly falsify it, "All swans are white" would still be shown falsifiable by "Here is a black swan"—a black swan would still be a state of affairs, only an imaginary one.[A]
Falsifiability is a deductive standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses, introduced by the philosopher of science Karl Popper in his book The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934).[B] A theory or hypothesis is falsifiable (or refutable) if it can be logically contradicted by an empirical test.
Popper emphasized the asymmetry created by the relation of a universal law with basic observation statements[C] and contrasted falsifiability to the intuitively similar concept of verifiability that was then current in logical positivism. He argued that the only way to verify a claim such as "All swans are white" would be if one could theoretically observe all swans,[D] which is not possible. On the other hand, the falsifiability requirement for an anomalous instance, such as the observation of a single black swan, is theoretically reasonable and sufficient to logically falsify the claim.
Popper proposed falsifiability as the cornerstone solution to both the problem of induction and the problem of demarcation. He insisted that, as a logical criterion, his falsifiability is distinct from the related concept "capacity to be proven wrong" discussed in Lakatos's falsificationism.[E][F][G] Even being a logical criterion, its purpose is to make the theory predictive and testable, and thus useful in practice.
By contrast, the Duhem–Quine thesis says that definitive experimental falsifications are impossible[1] and that no scientific hypothesis is by itself capable of making predictions, because an empirical test of the hypothesis requires one or more background assumptions.[2]
Popper's response is that falsifiability does not have the Duhem problem[H] because it is a logical criterion. Experimental research has the Duhem problem and other problems, such as the problem of induction,[I] but, according to Popper, statistical tests, which are only possible when a theory is falsifiable, can still be useful within a critical discussion.
As a key notion in the separation of science from non-science and pseudoscience, falsifiability has featured prominently in many scientific controversies and applications, even being used as legal precedent.
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Falsifiability is a deductive standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses, introduced by the philosopher of science Karl Popper in his...
emphasized the criterion of falsifiability to distinguish science from non-science. Statements, hypotheses, or theories have falsifiability or refutability if...
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Science and non-science are often distinguished by the criterion of falsifiability. The criterion was first proposed by philosopher of science Karl Popper...
later work, he stated that falsifiability is both a necessary and sufficient criterion for demarcation. He described falsifiability as a property of "the logical...
Science"'. Popper argues that science should adopt a methodology based on falsifiability, because no number of experiments can ever prove a theory, but a reproducible...
so confused that one could not tell whether it was nonsense or not." Falsifiability – Property of a statement that can be logically contradicted Cargo cult...
far as to ascrible value to theories only if they were falsifiable. Popper used the falsifiability criterion to demarcate a scientific theory from a theory...
low probability.Pages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback Falsifiability – Property of a statement that can be logically contradicted The Gray...
formal notion of cryptographic falsifiability. Roughly, a computational hardness assumption is said to be falsifiable if it can be formulated in terms...
theory is an attempt to falsify it, or to refute it. Testability is falsifiability; but there are degrees of testability: some theories are more testable...
philosopher Donald Levy agrees with Grünbaum that Freud's theories are falsifiable but disputes Grünbaum's contention that therapeutic success is only the...
improbable assumptions. Popper's falsifiability principle: For a theory to be considered scientific, it must be falsifiable. Sagan standard: Extraordinary...
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found. Critics argue that the multiverse concept lacks testability and falsifiability, which are essential for scientific inquiry, and that it raises unresolved...
verified. In The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1959), Popper proposed falsifiability as a preferable method for determining if a hypothesis is scientific...
critique or symbolic interpretation rather than constructing empirically falsifiable theories, and thus treat science in its broader sense. In modern academic...
mathematics shares much in common with the physical sciences. Like them, it is falsifiable, which means in mathematics that, if a result or a theory is wrong, this...
by Karl Popper's The Logic of Scientific Discovery (with its idea of falsifiability) and the descriptive model of science offered by Thomas Kuhn's The Structure...
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