Question

Assignment - Philosophy of Science

Define and distinguish between positivism and falsification

Answer 1

Auguste Comte coined the term 'positivism, 'Positivism emerged as a philosophical paradigm in the 19th century with Comte’s rejection of metaphysics and his assertion that only scientific knowledge can reveal the truth about reality. Positivism is the belief that human knowledge is produced by the scientific interpretation of observational data.

The five main principles of positivism research philosophy can be summarized as the following:

1. There are no differences in the logic of inquiry across sciences.
2. The research should aim to explain and predict.
3. Research should be empirically observable via human senses. Inductive reasoning should be used to develop statements (hypotheses) to be tested during the research process.
4. Science is not the same as the common sense. The common sense should not be allowed to bias the research findings.
5. Science must be value-free and it should be judged only by logic.

Falsifiability is the Basic Scientific Principle of Karl Popper Which states that for something to be scientific it must be be able to be proven false? If things are falsifiable (able to possibly be proven false) then they can be used in scientific studies and inquiry. Falsifiability is the assertion that for any hypothesis to have credence, it must be inherently disprovable before it can become accepted as a scientific hypothesis or theory. For example, the universal generalization that all swans are white is falsifiable since it is logically possible to falsify it by observing a single swan that is not white. Some statements, such as It will be raining here in one million years, are falsifiable in principle, but not in practice.

All cars are red. This statement can be proven false easily with any observation of a car that is not red. Anything that cannot be proven false is considered pseudo-science and not valid for scientific inquest.

Distinguish Between Positivism and Falsification

Positivism is the concept given by Auguste Comte which states that human knowledge is produced by the scientific interpretation of observational data thus only that knowledge is true which can be verified by science and logical proof. While as the Falsifiability is the Basic Scientific Principle of Karl Popper which states that Anything that cannot be proven false is considered pseudo-science and not valid for scientific inquest. According to Popper when things are falsifiable (able to possibly be proven false) then they can be used in scientific studies and inquiry. The requirement of Falsifiability means that conclusions cannot be drawn from simple observation of a particular phenomenon. The black swan problem is an illustration, while as the positivism states that conclusions can be drawn from simple observation of a particular phenomenon.

In conclusion we can say that positivism believes that knowledge is true when that they are scientifically proved while as Falsifiability believes that anything that cannot be proven false is considered pseudo-science and not valid for scientific inquest.