Philosophy of science is the study of what science is, how it justifies its claims, and what separates a scientific explanation from one that only looks like it. It examines the working assumptions every other discipline in this atlas uses without stopping to argue for them: what a theory has to do to be tested, when a result counts as evidence, and how science changes over time. Its central figures include Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn, whose work the atlas's concept entries draw on directly.
Facts
Central QuestionWhat is the demarcation criterion that separates genuine science from pseudoscience, and can any single criterion, such as falsifiability, actually do that work across every field that calls itself scientific? 1 ScopePhilosophy of science examines the foundations, methods and implications of science, asking what distinguishes science from non-science, how scientific theories are justified, and what scientific knowledge can be said to represent. 1 SignificanceKarl Popper's 1934 proposal that falsifiability, not verifiability, is what distinguishes genuine scientific theories from non-scientific ones became one of the most influential single ideas in the modern philosophy of science, still debated and refined by philosophers of science today. 1 Disputed
Founded YearFrancis Bacon's Novum Organum (1620) set out an inductive method for acquiring scientific knowledge and is commonly cited as founding philosophy of science as a subject of study; the modern analytic discipline is more often dated to Karl Popper's Logik der Forschung (1934), which reframed the field around falsifiability. Philosophy of Science
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Connections
Associated With
Source Philosophy of Science Association (Wikipedia)
Founded By
Karl Popper, Scientists A pivotal modern figure through the falsifiability criterion, not the founder of the field, whose roots trace to Aristotle and the early modern philosophers of scientific method.
Source Philosophy of Science (Wikipedia)
Has Scientist
Source Carl Hempel (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Source Ernest Nagel (Wikipedia)
Source Francis Bacon (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Source Hans Reichenbach (Wikipedia)
Source Ian Hacking (Wikipedia)
Source Larry Laudan (Wikipedia)
Source Otto Neurath (Wikipedia)
Has Theory
Source Falsifiability (Wikipedia)
Source The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1959)Karl Popper
Source Hypothesis (Wikipedia)
Source Novum Organum (1620)Francis Bacon
Source Imre Lakatos (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Source Observation (Wikipedia)
Source Occam's razor (Wikipedia)
Source Paradigm (Wikipedia)
Source The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962)Thomas Kuhn
Source Peer Review (Wikipedia)
Source Reproducibility (Wikipedia)
Source Scientific theory (Wikipedia)
Source Scientific method (Wikipedia)
Studies
Source Karl Popper (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)Stephen Thornton
Source Hypothesis (Wikipedia)
Source The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962)Thomas Kuhn
Source Peer Review (Britannica)
Source Reproducibility (Britannica)
Source Scientific Method (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
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Same As
Also in Philosophy Atlas: the same subject.
Sources
1. Philosophy of Science (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section
Philosophy of science is the branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. Amongst its central questions are the difference between science and non-science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultimate purpose and meaning of science as a human endeavour.
- Founded By: Karl Popper
In Group: Language, Mind and Science Studies, Lead
is the branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science
View the Source 2. Karl Popper (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Stephen Thornton, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1997Lead sectionQuote, Lead section
Karl Popper is generally regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the twentieth century.
Scientific Method (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyStudies: The Scientific MethodView the Source Philosophy of Science Association (Wikipedia)
Otto Neurath (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Otto Neurath, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Otto Neurath, Lead sentence
Otto Karl Wilhelm Neurath (; ; 10 December 1882-22 December 1945) was an Austrian-born philosopher of science, sociologist, and political economist.
Hans Reichenbach (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Hans Reichenbach, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Hans Reichenbach, Lead sentence
Hans Reichenbach (; ; September 26, 1891, April 9, 1953) was a leading philosopher of science, educator, and proponent of logical empiricism.
Ernest Nagel (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Ernest Nagel, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Ernest Nagel, Lead sentence
Ernest Nagel (; ; November 16, 1901, September 20, 1985) was an American philosopher of science.
Larry Laudan (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Larry Laudan, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Scientist: Larry Laudan, Lead sentence
Laurens Lynn "Larry" Laudan (; October 16, 1941, August 23, 2022) was an American philosopher of science and epistemologist.
Ian Hacking (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Scientist: Ian Hacking, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Scientist: Ian Hacking, Lead, sentence 1
Ian MacDougall Hacking (February 18, 1936, May 10, 2023) was a Canadian philosopher specializing in the philosophy of science.
Scientific theory (Wikipedia)
Has Theory: Scientific theory, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Theory: Scientific theory, Lead, sentence 1
A scientific theory is an explanation of an aspect of the natural world that can be or that has been repeatedly tested and has corroborating evidence in accordance with the scientific method, using accepted protocols of observation, measurement, and evaluation of results.
Scientific method (Wikipedia)
Has Theory: The Scientific Method, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Theory: The Scientific Method, Lead, sentence 1
The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge through careful observation, rigorous skepticism, hypothesis testing, and experimental validation.
Peer Review (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Theory: Peer Review, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Theory: Peer Review, Lead, sentence 1
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers).
Falsifiability (Wikipedia)
Has Theory: Falsifiability, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Theory: Falsifiability, Lead, sentence 1
Falsifiability is a standard of evaluation of scientific statements, including theories and hypotheses.
Reproducibility (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Theory: Reproducibility, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Theory: Reproducibility, Lead, sentence 1
Reproducibility, closely related to replicability and repeatability, is a major principle underpinning the scientific method.
Occam's razor (Wikipedia)
Has Theory: Occam's Razor, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Theory: Occam's Razor, Lead, sentence 1
In philosophy, Occam's razor (also spelled Ockham's razor or Ocham's razor; Latin: novacula Occami) is the problem-solving principle that recommends searching for explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements.
Observation (Wikipedia)
Has Theory: Observation, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Theory: Observation, Lead, sentence 1
Observation in the natural sciences refers to the active acquisition of information from a primary source.
Hypothesis (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHas Theory: Hypothesis, Lead, sentence 2Quote, Has Theory: Hypothesis, Lead, sentence 2
A scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educated guess.
Paradigm (Wikipedia)
Has Theory: Paradigm, Lead, sentence 1Quote, Has Theory: Paradigm, Lead, sentence 1
In science and philosophy, a paradigm ( PARR-ə-dyme) is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field.
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