Popper and Kuhn Two Views of Science Essay - 1449 Words

Popper and Kuhn: Two Views of Science In this essay I attempt to answer the following two questions: What is Karl Popper’s view of science? Do I feel that Thomas Kuhn makes important points against it? The two articles that I make reference to are Science: Conjectures and Refutations by Karl Popper and Logic of Discovery or Psychology of Research? by Thomas Kuhn. In the article, Science: Conjectures and Refutations, Karl Popper attempts to describe the criteria that a theory must meet for it to be considered scientific. He calls this puzzle the problem of demarcation. Popper summarizes his arguments by saying, the criterion of the scientific status of a theory is its falsifiability, or refutability, or testability. Kuhn†¦show more content†¦Popper thinks that it is their weakness. He contrasts Marxism with Einstein’s Gravitational Theory, noting the main difference is that Einstein’s theory is a risky prediction. He says, The theory is incompatible with certain possible results of observation†¦ Popper says that confirmations or verifications are easy to come up with for any theory; Confirmations should only count if they are the result of risky predictions. According to Popper, when a theory is proven to be false, it should not be used. He describes the common practice of giving theories a conventionalist twist as re-interpreting a theory after it has been disproven so that the theory can survive the apparent challenge. Popper says that Marxism is not science because when the theory was refuted, it was altered to explain the apparent refutations within the frames of the Marxist theory. Kuhn argues against this point. He says that introducing ad hoc assumptions to save a theory is done all the time in science, and it helps make the theories accurate. Rarely is a theory perfect the first time it is put down on paper. Kuhn thinks that the refinement of theories is an important part of theory development. Popper says that Astrology is not science because astrologers were too impressed with confirming evidence. Also astrology is not falsifiable. Astrologers make vague predictions and can explain any apparentShow MoreRelatedKarl Popper and Thomas Kuhn 21472 Words   |  6 PagesPopper and Kuhn: Two Views of Science In this essay I attempt to answer the following two questions: What is Karl Poppers view of science? Do I feel that Thomas Kuhn makes important points against it? The two articles that I make reference to are Science: Conjectures and Refutations by Karl Popper and Logic of Discovery or Psychology of Research? by Thomas Kuhn. Both articles appear in the textbook to this class. In the article, Science: Conjectures and Refutations, Karl Popper attemptsRead MorePopper And Kuhn On Nature Of Scientific Progress1184 Words   |  5 Pages Popper and Kuhn held differing views on the nature of scientific progress. As seen in Popper’s falsification theory, he held that theories can never be proved only disproved or falsified. Once a theory is proved false we move on to the next. Kuhn, on the other, hand argued a new paradigm may solve puzzles better than the old one but you cannot describe the old science as false. Both seem to share the Kantian idea that the really real, independently existing world is completely unknowable. Read MoreThe Limitations of Falsificationism1713 Words   |  7 Pagesnecessarily falsified, because the problem could be with the theory behind the instruments, or other assumptions.ï ¿ ½ (Examples: Tycho Braheï ¿ ½s refutation of Copernicus, p. 89, Lakatosï ¿ ½s example, p. 90.) 3. 3. 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