Philosophy of Science Glossary

A form of reasoning that infers the best explanation for a set of observations. Also called inference to the best explanation.

An observation or result that cannot be explained by the current paradigm or theory, potentially triggering scientific crisis.

Bas van Fraassen's position that the aim of science is empirical adequacy rather than truth about unobservable entities.

In Popper's philosophy, the degree to which a theory has survived rigorous attempts at falsification. Not the same as verification or confirmation.

Reasoning from general premises to a specific conclusion. If the premises are true, the conclusion must be true.

The challenge of drawing a clear boundary between science and non-science or pseudoscience.

The argument that hypotheses cannot be tested in isolation because tests always rely on auxiliary assumptions that could themselves be faulty.

The philosophical position that knowledge comes primarily from sensory experience and observation rather than innate ideas or pure reason.

Popper's criterion that a theory is scientific only if it can, in principle, be refuted by empirical evidence.

The view, associated with Quine, that scientific theories face the tribunal of experience as a whole rather than statement by statement.

A method of inquiry in which hypotheses are proposed, predictions are deduced from them, and observations are made to test those predictions.

Kuhn's thesis that successive paradigms are so different in their concepts and standards that they cannot be fully compared or translated into each other.

Reasoning from specific observations to general conclusions. Central to empirical science but philosophically problematic since Hume.

The view that scientific theories are tools for prediction and calculation, not literal descriptions of unobservable reality.

A period when accumulated anomalies undermine confidence in the dominant paradigm, opening the way for revolutionary change.

A philosophical movement that held only empirically verifiable or analytically true statements are meaningful. Associated with the Vienna Circle.

The view that philosophy should be continuous with science, using scientific methods and findings to address philosophical questions.

Kuhn's term for routine scientific work that operates within an established paradigm, solving puzzles without challenging core assumptions.

A set of shared assumptions, methods, and exemplary achievements that define the practice of a scientific discipline during a period of normal science.

The argument that because many past successful theories turned out to be false, we should expect our current theories may also be false.

A practice or body of knowledge that claims to be scientific but fails to meet accepted criteria such as testability, falsifiability, or reproducibility.

Lakatos's model: a series of theories sharing a 'hard core' of assumptions, with a 'protective belt' of auxiliary hypotheses that absorb anomalies.

The philosophical position that mature, successful scientific theories give approximately true descriptions of both observable and unobservable aspects of the world.

The view that observations are influenced by the observer's theoretical background, making fully neutral observation impossible.

The thesis that the available empirical evidence is always logically compatible with more than one theory, so evidence alone cannot determine theory choice.