IBP Psychology and Science

Chapter 5: Introducing falsificationism 

Falsificationism: An alternative to inductionism. The idea that scientific theories are falsifiable.

Falsificationists:

• Freely admit that observation is guided by and presupposes theory
• They also abandon any claim implying that theories can be established as true or probably true in the light of observational evidence
• Believe theories are guesses freely created by the human intellect in an attempt to overcome problems encountered by previous theories to give an adequate account of some aspects of the world or universe
• No problems about the charactisation and justification of induction arises for the falsificationists because, according to them, science does not involve induction.
• Falsificationists demand that scientific hypotheses be falsifiable

In support of falsificationism:

• Some theories can be shown to be false by an appeal to the results of observation and experiment.

• For example: ‘A raven which was not black was observed at place x at time t’, then it logically follows from this that ‘All ravens are black’ is false.

Examples of some simple assertions that are falsifiable:

1. It never rains on Wednesdays

• It can be falsified by observing rain to fall on a Wednesday

2. All substances expand when heated

• It can be falsified by an observation statement to the effect that some substance, x, did not expand when heated at time t. Water near its freezing point would serve to falsify 2.

3.  Heavy objects such as a brick when released near the surface of the earth fall straight downwards if not impeded.

• Even though it may be true, it is falsifiable. It is logically possible that the next brick to be released will ‘fall’ upwards.

Examples of not falsifiable statements:

4. Either it is raining or it is not raining.

• No logically possible observation statement could refute this

5.  All points on a Euclidean circle are equidistant from the centre.

• If points on a circle were not equidistant from some fixed point, then that figure would just not be a Euclidean circle.

A good scientific law or theory is falsifiable just because it makes definite claims about the world.

How does falsification deal with vagueness?

• Politicians and fortune-tellers can avoid being accused of making mistakes by making their assertions so vague that they can always be construed as compatible with whatever may eventuate.
• The falsificationist demands that theories be stated with sufficient clarity to run the risk of falsification
• Precision is also a key factor for falsificationists: the more precise and clear something is, the more falsifiable it becomes

The concept of progress, of the growth of science, is a conception that is a central one in the falsificationist account of science

Resources:

What is This Thing Called Science 4^th Edition (CHALMERS)