SCIE1000 Philosophy Essay
SCIE1000 Philosophy Essay- According to Alan Chalmers, scientific theories are “derived from the facts of experience” (SCIE1000 Notes, 2015) which refers to the classical model of the scientific method based on inductivism. Philosopher Karl Popper, however, has rejected this method of traditional empiricism and strongly argued against scientific theories solely depending on induction. His account of the scientific method is known as “the hypothetico-deductive method” (SCIE1000 Notes 2015). The two contrasting views will be further discussed and evaluated, more specifically Chalmers’ claims of the scientific method will be assessed from a Popperian falsificationist’s point of view. Additionally, I will reveal my own personal assessment of how the scientific theories should be initiated and developed. Firstly, I will introduce Chalmers’ claims about the scientific method and further analyze their implications. His main argument refers to the fact that these scientific theories are “acquired by observation and experiment” (SCIE1000 Notes 2015) which means that they are based on inductivism. This is when generalizations for a certain phenomenon are extracted from evidence after performing a series of experiments and observations. For example, if every apple that was observed appears to be red in color, we would induce the statement that ‘all apples are the color red’. However, this theory of induction has been widely criticized because of the sole reason that an infinite amount of positive evidence that has proven the theory will not account for the possibility of one piece of negative evidence that will disprove the theory. This leads into Popper’s ‘falsificationism’ theory, which is a commonly recognized rebuttal to the theory of induction as he believed that science is not about proving theories to be true, but instead, trying to prove them false. A claim is made only to be criticized and tested and never to be accepted as the Read More …
The post SCIE1000 Philosophy Essay appeared first on Smart Essays.
Source
Looking for a Similar Assignment? Order now and Get 10% Discount! Use Coupon Code "Newclient"
