Why Is Science Special - 972 Words

According to Popparian falsification, why is science special? Science plays an important role in society today as it helps us understand the ever-changing world around us through the power of observation. Oxford dictionary defines science as â€Å"The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment†. This ambiguous definition begs the question that this essay will answer through use of falsification; what makes science special from every other body of knowledge? Distinguishing between science and non-science is known as the ‘demarcation problem’ (Resnick, 2000). Falsification was first proposed by Karl Popper to resolve this problem. He believed that someone can â€Å"only admit a system as empirical or scientific† if it is logically possible to both verify and falsify the system (Popper, 1959). Inductive reasoning tends to be used to provide evidence for a proposed theory but not absolute proof of it, hence the hypothesis outcome is probable but not irrefutable (Copi, Cohen, Flage, 2007). Consider the statement â€Å"all swans are white† (Keuth, 2005). Just because all the swans you have observed are doesn’t make it true as you haven’t observed all swans; this is known as a dogmatic statement. Through falsification the outcome is a certainty not a probability. Popper’s falsification effectively proving a theory to be scientific is demonstrated through Newton’sShow MoreRelatedThe Science Fiction Film Genre Essay1683 Words   |  7 PagesScience Fiction Films The science fiction film genre has been around almost as long as movies have, but like the cinema it is still a fairly young art form. This genre came into existence shortly after the invention of the movie camera in 1888 and has endured for over one-hundred years. 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Then, break the ice by leading a short discussion: What is