Discover published sets by community

A concept developed by Karl Popper to demarcate science from non-science, where a theory must be testable and refutable to be considered scientific.

Coined by Thomas Kuhn, this refers to a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline.

Philosophical view that knowledge comes from experience and observation, associated with philosophers like John Locke and David Hume.

A philosophy asserting that reason and deduction from innate ideas are the primary source of knowledge, with proponents like René Descartes.

Philosophy by Auguste Comte and later Logical Positivists, holding that meaningful statements must be either empirically verifiable or tautological.

A view, often associated with John Dewey, that scientific theories are tools or instruments for predicting and controlling experiences, rather than true or false descriptions of the world.

A perspective in the philosophy of science that posits the existence of a reality independent of our observations, defended by philosophers such as Hilary Putnam.

A formal view of explanation proposed by Carl Hempel and Paul Oppenheim, explaining phenomena by deducing them from general laws and initial conditions.

A term popularized by historian Thomas Kuhn to describe a period in which one scientific framework is replaced by another within a community.

Kuhnian concept describing empirical data that cannot be explained by the prevailing paradigm, which may lead to a scientific revolution.

The idea that evidence may be insufficient to determine which of multiple scientific theories is the correct one, associated with Duhem-Quine thesis.

A framework within the philosophy of science that uses Bayesian probability to update the degree of belief in hypotheses based on evidence.

A methodological principle that emphasizes observation and experimentation in deriving knowledge about the world, historically associated with Francis Bacon.

The philosophical concept that true statements are those that cohere with an established body of accepted truths, linked to philosophers like Brand Blanshard.

The understanding of a phenomenon in terms of causes, mechanisms, or reasons, through the use of scientific theories and observations.

The principle that science should be concerned only with natural phenomena and should not invoke supernatural explanations, related to the work of Paul Kurtz.

The idea that what we observe is influenced by the theoretical framework we use, associated with philosophers like Ludwig Fleck and N. R. Hanson.

A term describing beliefs or practices that claim to be scientific but lack empirical evidence and adherence to the scientific method, critiqued by Karl Popper among others.

An approach to science emphasizing practical consequences and applications of theories, notably supported by Charles Sanders Peirce and William James.