Critique of Popper’s Demarcation Criterion and Freud's Theory of Dreams

Flashcards about Popper's Demarcation Criterion

What is a key criticism of Popper's demarcation criterion regarding scientific theories?

Accepted scientific theories always face numerous apparent falsifiers, yet are maintained despite this.

What was the problem with using the continued failure to observe stellar parallax as a falsifier to Copernicus’s theory?

Despite the theory predicting that the relative position of stars would change as the earth orbits the sun, instruments of the time could not detect this, but scientists still stuck by the theory.

According to Popper, what bearing do predictive successes have on a scientific theory's epistemic value?

They have no bearing; even if a theory passes a strict test and makes a precise prediction, it doesn't make the theory any more probable.

On what type of reasoning did Popper insist science must be rational?

Deductive terms, rejecting inductive reasoning.

What is the problem with the logic of Popper's falsificationism?

It only applies in an ideal situation where a theory strictly entails a prediction and the falsifying observation statement is known to be true, but Popper believed such an ideal situation can never arise.

What did astronomers do when observations of Uranus's orbit did not match predictions based on Newton's theory?

They questioned an auxiliary assumption (that Uranus was the last planet) and discovered Neptune, rather than rejecting Newton's theory.

Why did scientists re-examine the background assumptions rather than blame the theory itself in the example of Uranus’s orbit?

The scientists assigned a high degree of credence to Newton's theory as a result of its impressive record of predictive and explanatory successes.

What are the two main points made about Popper's notion of falsifiability as a demarcation criterion?

The methodological version is too demanding and the formal version is difficult to apply in practice.

What approach provides a more nuanced view of testing than Popper's theory, and how does it evaluate a theory?

Bayesianism evaluates a theory based on its probability in the light of evidence, rather than strict falsifiability.

According to Freud, what causes the anxiety present in anxiety dreams?

The anxiety arises due to repressed thoughts breaking through to consciousness.