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Added sub-section on falsifiability, modified lead
Sir '''Karl Popper''' (1902-1994) was an Austrian-born philosopher who had influence on science and politics.
Sir '''Karl Popper''' (1902-1994) was an Austrian-born philosopher of science widely regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century,<ref>{{hnb|Stanford|2006}}</ref> who influenced the philosophy of science and politics.
==Philosophy of Science ==
=== Falsifiability ===
In his seminal work, ''The Logic of Scientific Discovery,'' Karl Popper repudiated induction, and proposed the bright line of [[falsifiability]] as a demarcation between science and non-science. In order to be scientific, a theory must be testable, and the results of the testing must either corroborate the theory, or falsify it. A proposed theory is falsifiable, if it is conceivable to conduct an experiment that would either substantiate or disprove the theory. For example, Newton's law of gravity was a valid scientific theory because it is falsifiable; that is, the Law of Gravity is experimentally testable, and a measurement taken that violates Newton's law would falsify it, while a measurement that substantiates the theory would corroborate it.
While chemistry, Newtonian physics among others are science, metaphysics, pseudoscience, and Darwinian evolution are not scientific.
=== Universal Laws ===
In science Popper proposed a falsifiability criterion for the demarcation of science from pseudoscience as a result of his analysis of universal laws. Universal laws have a logical structure which precludes certain existential statements: universal laws are a negation of an existential proposition. Popper's example was that of the color of swans. The universal statement "all swans are white" implies the negative existential statement "no swans of a color other than white exist". To verify the negative existential we would need to trawl through the universe to ensure that no non-white swan existed anywhere in time or space. Conversely if we saw just one black swan we could confirm the existential statement "black swans exist" and refute the universal "all swans are white".
In science Popper proposed a falsifiability criterion for the demarcation of science from pseudoscience as a result of his analysis of universal laws. Universal laws have a logical structure which precludes certain existential statements: universal laws are a negation of an existential proposition. Popper's example was that of the color of swans. The universal statement "all swans are white" implies the negative existential statement "no swans of a color other than white exist". To verify the negative existential we would need to trawl through the universe to ensure that no non-white swan existed anywhere in time or space. Conversely if we saw just one black swan we could confirm the existential statement "black swans exist" and refute the universal "all swans are white".