CF Dictionary · Core CF Concepts
Critical Fallibilism (CF)
A rational philosophy that explains how to evaluate ideas using decisive, critical arguments and accept only ideas with zero refutations.
Also: CF
Critical Fallibilism (CF) is a rational philosophy developed by Elliot Temple which explains how to evaluate ideas using decisive, critical arguments and accept only ideas with zero refutations — no known errors. CF takes inspiration from three traditions: Critical Rationalism (Karl Popper), Theory of Constraints (Eli Goldratt), and Objectivism (Ayn Rand).
CF's central claim is that an error is a reason an idea fails at a goal (in a context), and that all evaluation should be binary: an idea is either refuted (has a known error) or non-refuted (no known error). It rejects judging how good an idea is, how weighty evidence is, or how strong an argument is; it rejects credences and degrees of belief.
CF treats learning as an evolutionary process focused on error-correction, not on induction or justification. It focuses on qualitative differences (breakpoints) rather than quantitative factors.
CF also contributes original ideas on top of its three source traditions. The most important are:
- The rejection of strong and weak arguments in favor of decisive vs. indecisive arguments (Yes or No Philosophy)
- IGC charts — Idea, Goal, Context triples
- Idea trees — tree diagrams to aid thinking and discussion
- Paths Forward — organising intellectual work to enable error correction
- Overreach — managing the rate of error creation against error-correction
- Automatizing, practice, mastery
"Critical Fallibilism (CF) is a rational philosophy which explains how to evaluate ideas using decisive, critical arguments and accept only ideas with zero refutations (no known errors)." — criticalfallibilism.com
CF's status as a philosophy is itself evaluated CF-style: it is conjectural, fallible, and offered for criticism. Temple regularly engages with critics on the Critical Fallibilism discussion forum.