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oapen-20.500.12657-311762022-08-26T10:04:56Z Karl Popper, Science and Enightenment Maxwell, Nicholas civilization reason karl popper the enlightenment science intellectual revolution education Albert Einstein Alberta Order of Excellence Empiricism Falsifiability Metaphysics Physicalism Quantum mechanics Scientific method Theoretical physics bic Book Industry Communication::C Language::CF linguistics::CFA Philosophy of language bic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HP Philosophy bic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HP Philosophy::HPC History of Western philosophy bic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HP Philosophy::HPK Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge Here is an idea that just might save the world. It is that science, properly understood, provides us with the methodological key to the salvation of humanity. A version of this idea can be found in the works of Karl Popper. Famously, Popper argued that science cannot verify theories but can only refute them, and this is how science makes progress. Scientists are forced to think up something better, and it is this, according to Popper, that drives science forward. But Nicholas Maxwell finds a flaw in this line of argument. Physicists only ever accept theories that are unified – theories that depict the same laws applying to the range of phenomena to which the theory applies – even though many other empirically more successful disunified theories are always available. This means that science makes a questionable assumption about the universe, namely that all disunified theories are false. Without some such presupposition as this, the whole empirical method of science breaks down. By proposing a new conception of scientific methodology, which can be applied to all worthwhile human endeavours with problematic aims, Maxwell argues for a revolution in academic inquiry to help humanity make progress towards a better, more civilized and enlightened world. 2017-08-01 23:55:55 2019-01-11 13:45:08 2020-04-01T13:26:10Z 2020-04-01T13:26:10Z 2017 book 636791 OCN: 1192302804 9781787350397 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31176 eng application/pdf Attribution 4.0 International 636791.pdf http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/browse-books/karl-popper-science-and-enlightenment UCL Press 10.2307/j.ctt1vxm8p6 10.2307/j.ctt1vxm8p6 df73bf94-b818-494c-a8dd-6775b0573bc2 9781787350397 390 open access
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Here is an idea that just might save the world. It is that science, properly understood, provides us with the methodological key to the salvation of humanity. A version of this idea can be found in the works of Karl Popper. Famously, Popper argued that science cannot verify theories but can only refute them, and this is how science makes progress. Scientists are forced to think up something better, and it is this, according to Popper, that drives science forward. But Nicholas Maxwell finds a flaw in this line of argument. Physicists only ever accept theories that are unified – theories that depict the same laws applying to the range of phenomena to which the theory applies – even though many other empirically more successful disunified theories are always available. This means that science makes a questionable assumption about the universe, namely that all disunified theories are false. Without some such presupposition as this, the whole empirical method of science breaks down. By proposing a new conception of scientific methodology, which can be applied to all worthwhile human endeavours with problematic aims, Maxwell argues for a revolution in academic inquiry to help humanity make progress towards a better, more civilized and enlightened world.
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UCL Press
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2017
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http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/browse-books/karl-popper-science-and-enlightenment
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