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Full Idea
The goal of science is not solely to refute theories, but also to determine which theories are true (or probably true). When a scientist collects data …they are trying to show that their own theory is true.
Gist of Idea
Science mostly aims at confirming theories, rather than falsifying them
Source
Samir Okasha (Philosophy of Science: Very Short Intro (2nd ed) [2016], 2)
Book Ref
Okasha,Samir: 'Philosophy of Science: very short intro (2nd ed)' [OUP 2016], p.19
A Reaction
This is the aim of 'accommodation' to a wide set of data, rather than prediction or refutation.
| 17366 | Virtually all modern views of speciation rest on relational rather than intrinsic features [Okasha] |
| 22172 | Not all sciences are experimental; astronomy relies on careful observation [Okasha] |
| 22174 | The discoverers of Neptune didn't change their theory because of an anomaly [Okasha] |
| 22175 | Science mostly aims at confirming theories, rather than falsifying them [Okasha] |
| 22177 | Randomised Control Trials have a treatment and a control group, chosen at random [Okasha] |
| 22176 | Induction is inferences from examined to unexamined instances of a given kind [Okasha] |
| 22178 | If the rules only concern changes of belief, and not the starting point, absurd views can look ratiional [Okasha] |
| 22173 | Galileo refuted the Aristotelian theory that heavier objects fall faster [Okasha] |
| 22180 | Multiple realisability is said to make reduction impossible [Okasha] |
| 22182 | Theories with unobservables are underdetermined by the evidence [Okasha] |
| 22185 | Two things can't be incompatible if they are incommensurable [Okasha] |