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Single Idea 12179
[filed under theme 26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 8. Scientific Essentialism / e. Anti scientific essentialism
]
Full Idea
The essentialist view of Newton (due to Roger Cotes) ...prevented fruitful questions from being raised, such as, 'What is the cause of gravity?' or 'Can we deduce Newton's theory from a more general independent theory?'
Gist of Idea
Essentialist views of science prevent further questions from being raised
Source
Karl Popper (Conjectures and Refutations [1963], 3.3)
Book Ref
Popper,Karl: 'Conjectures and Refutations' [RKP 1965], p.106
A Reaction
This is Popper's main (and only) objection to essentialism - that it is committed to ultimate explanations, and smugly terminates science when it thinks it has found them. This does not strike me as a problem with scientific essentialism.
Related Idea
Idea 15705
Essentialism encourages us to think about the world scientifically [Gelman]
The
16 ideas
from Karl Popper
12176
|
Science does not aim at ultimate explanations
[Popper]
|
12175
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Galilean science aimed at true essences, as the ultimate explanations
[Popper]
|
12179
|
Essentialist views of science prevent further questions from being raised
[Popper]
|
12177
|
Human artefacts may have essences, in their purposes
[Popper]
|
7780
|
Falsification is the criterion of demarcation between science and non-science
[Popper, by Magee]
|
16830
|
We don't only reject hypotheses because we have falsified them
[Lipton on Popper]
|
6794
|
If falsification requires logical inconsistency, then probabilistic statements can't be falsified
[Bird on Popper]
|
6795
|
When Popper gets in difficulties, he quietly uses induction to help out
[Bird on Popper]
|
3856
|
Good theories have empirical content, explain a lot, and are not falsified
[Popper, by Newton-Smith]
|
3860
|
Science cannot be shown to be rational if induction is rejected
[Newton-Smith on Popper]
|
22188
|
Give Nobel Prizes for really good refutations?
[Gorham on Popper]
|
7779
|
There is no such thing as induction
[Popper, by Magee]
|
22358
|
Scientific objectivity lies in inter-subjective testing
[Popper]
|
5451
|
Popper felt that ancient essentialism was a bar to progress
[Popper, by Mautner]
|
18284
|
Particulars can be verified or falsified, but general statements can only be falsified (conclusively)
[Popper]
|
11946
|
Propensities are part of a situation, not part of the objects
[Popper]
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