Falsification Flashcards
How did Karl Popper believe language could be testified to see if it was scientific?
By the falsification principle
What must a proposition be able to withstand?
Criteria that could falsify it
What happens if it can withstand falsification criteria?
Then it can be accepted as cognitive
What does Popper not even acknowledge as cognitive?
Astrology. Those who accept astrology don’t allow any falsification evidence to counter it.
An analogy of falsification contrasting with verification
It is quicker finding a black swan than all white swans if one suggested that “all swans are white.”
Who linked the falsification principle to religion?
Antony Flew
What is Flew’s criteria of a statement to be cognitive?
A statement is only cognitive if it is known what empirical evidence could count against it
What does Flew believe makes a religious believer’s statements meaningless?
Flew argues that believers do not accept falsification evidence to count against their claims
What does a religious believer do when one falsifies their proposition?
They will add an extra criteria. Eg - “God loves us as a father loves his children, but God’s love is not like human love.”
What are the two different statements of the jungle explorers in the garden?
- ‘a gardener visits here.’
- ‘there is no gardener.’
What does the man who says ‘a gardener does visit here’ suggest about the gardener’s qualities?
- He is invisible, intangible, soundless
- (he allows nothing to count against his belief.)
How does the non-believer prove that a gardener hasn’t been there?
He watches overnight and sees no one. Sets traps and cameras.
