According to Francisco J. Ayala, there is significant contradictions between Darwin’s methodology and how he presented it to the public people during his time. Charles Robert
Darwin presented the world with his theory of evolution in his book, On the Origin of Species by
Means of Natural Selection, in 1859. This established the foundation of evolution in science, however, at the time Darwin claimed to follow the inductive method, which did not match his scientific research in his notebooks, correspondence, and autobiography. Ayala made this claim as he soon realized that Darwin’s research was based on hypothetico-deductive reasoning.
According to Darwin’s journals, his hypothesis of natural selection was formed, followed by his
observations
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Hypothetico-deductive method consisted of two components accordingly: forming a hypothesis about the natural world and testing the hypothesis. Ayala states that Darwin in fact used this type of reasoning, but it was not presented that way due to the acceptance of the public during Darwin’s time. Darwin's time was a time where inductive reasoning was accepted, however inductive reasoning fails to account for the actual methodology of science. Induction was proposed by Francis Bacon and John Stuart Mill and it gave rise to a method where scientist would observe any phenomena and then through his/her experience would form a truth of the universe. Because inductive reasoning fails to arrive at a universal truth, most scientists during the Darwin’s time were not able to make a universal statement that can be logically justified by observations.
In current times, hypotheses are now accepted throughout the world. Scientist think of new ideas in all kinds of ways, and these hypotheses become a sort of initial stage of scientific inquiry. Hypotheses guide scientist to performing different observations and experiments that can lead them to a universal truth in the world. In order to be accepted as hypothesis, it must