Karl Popper And Thomas Kuhn 2 Views

Of Science Compared Essay, Research Paper

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. Both articles appear in the textbook to this class.

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 says that he and Popper often agree as to what constitutes science and non-science. He claims that he differs with Popper in the methods that he uses to arrive at his conclusions. Kuhn says that if a line of demarcation is to be sought between science and non-science, we shouldn t look for a “sharp or decisive” one, because science is not objective, as Popper would have us believe, but subjective.

Popper claims that the common answer to the problem of delineating between science and pseudo-science is that science uses an empirical method, deriving from observations and experiments. This explanation does not satisfy Popper. He has a gut feeling that areas of study like astrology are not science, and he attempts to come up with a theory to prove it. One of the problems I have with Popper is that instead of looking at a concrete problem and trying to come up with an explanation, Popper first made up his mind that astrology is not science, and then set out to prove it. By Popper s own admissions, confirming evidence is everywhere, but means little. This could be applied all of Popper s examples.

Popper is “dissatisfied” with the Marxist theory of history, psychoanalysis, and individual psychology. He sets out to describe why his gut tells him that these are unscientific theories. He argues against theories that have explanatory power. Popper has a problem with Marxists because no matter what happens in the world, they can explain the event in light of their theory. When a person believes a theory to be true, everything that happens is a verification of the truthfulness of the theory. Popper s example is how a Marxists can t read a newspaper without finding evidence to confirm their theory on every page. Supporters of these theories claim that their great explanatory properties are the strength of their theories. 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 apparent refutation to the validity of the theory. Kuhn refutes this point by claiming that Popper s assertion that astrologers escape falsification by “explaining away” any possible refutations is impossible to support. Kuhn uses the example of “reputable records” that indicate many instances where astrology categorically failed. Astrology is a very complex science (or non-science, depending on your opinion). Measuring the planets and the stars is hard, and in the days when astrology was more popular, the tools for measuring were crude. In addition, few people knew exactly when they were born, a crucial detail needed to perform accurate astrology.

Kuhn agrees with Popper in stating that astrology is not a science, but they differ in their reasons. Kuhn main problem with astrology is that the failures of astrology do not “give rise to research puzzles.” He thinks that when a scientific theory fails to explain a phenomenon, there is a new puzzle for scientists to study, learn, and grow from. In astrology, nothing is learned from mistakes. There is no effort to change the theory to explain why it failed or adopt a new theory.

Popper emphasizes the importance of testing when it comes to new theories replacing old ones. Kuhn takes particular offense to this statement. He argues that if one looks at how science is actually done,