CF Dictionary · Critical Rationalism Terms
Falsificationism
Popper's epistemology: scientific theories must be falsifiable, and science progresses by attempting refutation.
Falsificationism is Popper's central methodological commitment: scientific theories must be falsifiable — they must specify some observation that would refute them — and science progresses by trying to refute them.
The criterion
- A theory is scientific iff it is falsifiable.
- A theory is better if it rules out more observations.
- A theory is progressed by surviving harder tests.
The method
- Conjecture. Propose a falsifiable theory.
- Deduce risky predictions. Things that wouldn't be true if the theory is wrong.
- Test. Try to refute.
- Refute or tentatively accept.
- Repeat. Especially for the new "tentatively accepted" theory.
What falsificationism rejects
- Induction. You can't confirm by accumulation.
- Strong empiricism. Theories aren't derived from observation.
- Instrumentalism. Theories aim at truth, not just prediction.
- Verifiability.: Confirmation is too weak.
CF's view
CF follows falsificationism but adds:
- Binary evaluation. Refuted or non-refuted.
- Paths Forward. Open criticism is the social version.
- IGC triples. Falsification is goal- and context-bound.
"Falsificationism" is one of CR's central ideas; CF adopts it. — criticalfallibilism.com