Karl Raimond Popper: Problem Of Demarcation

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Karl Popper: Problem of Demarcation and Falsification as Criterion of Demarcation Karl Raimond Popper, born in July 1902 in Vienna, was one of the most influential philosopher of science and political thinker. Since his childhood only he had interests in social and political issues. This made him join Association of Socialist School Students, an association based on Marxist ideology. But very soon he found the theory to be disillusioned of the doctrine character of the theory itself, and then he entirely disengaged himself with it and became supporter of social liberalism all his life. This in fact, helped him clear his thoughts for his coming theory on problem of demarcation. During this time, he discovered psychoanalytic theory of Freud and …show more content…

Also, people into research field of science are always into producing novel and risky predictions about their study, which they consider it to be the common characteristic of science. This common characteristic combining with the rejection of the theory, when it’s predictions do not turn out to be in line with the theory, is what makes science so intellectually respectable (Ladyman, 2002, p. …show more content…

Many theories come into formulations due to different scientific interests, but it is of no consequence as far as the philosophy is concerned. What Popper emphasizes in particular that there is no single way or method such as induction that leads to the path of scientific theory. The non- scientific theories like of Freud, Marx and Adler are thus, called so-scientific in nature because of their weakness of explaining everything under the sun. And if they explain anything under the sun then falsifiability in their case can never occur, and if they can never be falsified then they are not science in true sense. On Popper’s idea of falsification as criterion of problem of demarcation physics, chemistry and psychology are sciences, psycho- analysis is a pre-science, i.e., it contains some really insightful truths, but until it is not falsifiable it cannot be accepted as science, astrology and phrenology are pseudo- sciences. Formally, Popper’s theory of demarcation may be articulated to understand as having two parts: (a) one part having inconsistent instances or is a potential falsifier to the theory; (b) the other part having consistent instances or are