Questions tagged [falsifiability]
The falsifiability of a hypothesis or statement, i.e. the inherent possibility of making observations that can prove the hypothesis wrong.
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Falsifiability of religious language
I understand (or thought I understood) Popper's falsification principle. For a statement to be meaningful it has to be falsifiable. That I can get on board with. But then I looked at it in regards to ...
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How can a theory be discarded if the Duhem–Quine thesis suggests it can’t be falsified?
From my understanding of the Duhem-Quine thesis, it seems that theories can’t be refuted Popper-style. But then how can one make sure that some theory can’t work as an explanation for a phenomenon?
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Can we define a scientific theory as a non-empty set of falsifiable statements?
Below is the definition, sourced from Wikipedia, empasis mine:
Thornton says that basic statements are statements that correspond to
particular "observation-reports". He then gives Popper's ...
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Classical Utilitarianism and falsifiability?
I was watching Ian Shapiro's account of Bentham's classical Utilitarianism. Here is an abridged version of a discusion between him and his students:
Prof: Now, I'm going to make five points about ...
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Has reductive physicalism been falsified?
This answer to Does asking counterfactual questions about the context/conditions of one's birth presuppose the existence of souls? proposed an alternative view:
Alternative: Reductive physicalism
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Shoudn’t the obscurantism of the supernatural automatically deem it extremely implausible? [closed]
Suppose that one asked you to consider the plausibility of a functioning iPhone 14 forming by complete chance (i.e. without design). As far as I understand, this is actually possible, according to ...
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Epistemic Concern Regarding Black Holes [closed]
A lot of work has been done in recent years regarding black holes, especially in the area of thermodynamics. However this raises in me a philosophical concern: since not even light can escape a black ...
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Is falsifiability a wrong standard for deciding if a theory is "scientific"?
This question stems from a comment by @Conifold:
"Falsifiability" is a wrong standard that is no longer used (if it ever was) because any theory can be "saved" by suitable ...
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Is the principle of physical causal closure falsifiable?
From Wikipedia:
Physical causal closure is a metaphysical theory about the nature of causation in the physical realm with significant ramifications in the study of metaphysics and the mind. In a ...
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Are there domains of enquiry where nonfalsifiability is a good thing, and if so is this formalised?
In science, falsifiability of a theory is considered a good thing because as per Popper if a empirical evidence can show that a theory is false, then the theory can be replaced by another which has ...
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Is falsifiability precision, knowability, or both?
I have sometimes heard people say that there is merit in formulating claims that are “falsifiable”.
I can imagine that “falsifiable” means “can be falsified”, and “falsified” means “judged, determined,...
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Is mind-body dualism falsifiable?
I've previously asked Is epiphenomenalism falsifiable?, which was well-received, so I’d like to explore a follow-up. Are there any versions of mind-body dualism that make testable predictions, thus ...
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Is epiphenomenalism falsifiable?
In the debate on the nature of consciousness, especially concerning views like epiphenomenalism, can we design experiments to test whether consciousness, regardless of its underlying nature, has ...
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Does critical theory have any implications for unfalisifiable theories?
As science pursues truth but is not independent of man, does the true nature of society, especially its economic base, bear on currently unfalisfiable physical theories?
Horkheimer thinks that there ...
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Is Karl Popper's falsificationism self-refuting?
I am referring here not to falsification as a tool used to judge if something is good science, but rather to judge the meaning of statements such as "God exists".
Suppose that Flew's parable ...
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