The Logic of Scientific Discovery

The Logic of Scientific Discovery by Karl Popper is a complex and detailed study of Popper’s approach to the scientific method, which emphasizes deductive falsifiability. Popper proposes that all scientific experimentation should seek to falsify rather than verify a scientific statement. When Popper re-published the book in English in 1959 from an earlier German draft, the book received immense attention from the scientific community. The Logic of Scientific Discovery marks a break in the history of scientific inquiry from a previous focus on inductive logic and verification to deductive logic. Popper’s work laid the foundation for contemporary scientific study. The philosopher earned a doctorate in psychology in 1928 and received many awards, including the Lippincott Award of the American Political Science Association, the Otto Hahn Peace Medal of the United Nations Association of Germany, and the Humanist Laureate Award from the International Academy of Humanism. Popper was knighted in 1965 by Queen Elizabeth II. This guide utilizes the 2014 publication by Martino Publishing.

Summary

When Karl Popper began outlining the methodology for his dissertation that would investigate the psychological aspects of human memory, he discovered that the methodologies available to him and traditional in the field of psychology failed to reflect his scientific point of view. Popper had attended Einstein’s lectures and was astounded by the riskiness of Einstein’s work: This great scientist opened himself up to failure, to being wrong in his experimentation. He saw a contrast between scientists like Einstein and the psychoanalysts of his own field. He felt that data could be manipulated and interpreted to always verify psychological hypotheses. This comparison led Popper to write The Logic of Scientific Discovery, a philosophical work on the scientific method and the use of deductive logic.

Popper rejects the inductive logic used by philosophers and scientists prior to and even in the 20th century. Popper argued that the use of inductive logic marked the boundary line between science and pseudoscience. Genuine science utilized deductive reasoning. Experiments were designed so that they could be falsified. Popper argued that the scientific community is incapable of making verified and claims about the natural world because all theories have the potential of falsification. The Logic of Scientific Discovery focuses on three themes: The Aim of Falsifiability, The Problem with Inductive Logic, and Demarcation of Science and Non-Science.

In Part 1, Popper outlines the fundamental conflicts that arise in the use of inductive logic. He suggests that inductivist or positivistic approaches to science present a false narrative of verification. He also denounces psychology and other sciences, which he argues do not use deductive logic. Popper proposes a methodology that forms the basis for contemporary science today. Scientific statements must be universal and capable of falsification, and they must build upon previous research and scientific inquiry. These statements must undergo rigorous testing; the success of experimentation does not prove verifiability. Instead, it provides more opportunities for more testing. The philosopher suggests that the scientific community can never form sweeping statements of universal truth, but they can refine ideas by passing them through the sieve of the scientific method.

Part 2, Chapters 3-7 begins by clarifying theories and universal statements. Popper then clarifies the difference between universal and individual concepts and statements. He explores falsifiability as the central aim of all scientific inquiry and its purpose. Occurrences are used to observe these points of inquiry or statements. Psychologism is critiqued for its use of inductive reasoning and perceptual experiences. It falls under the category of pseudoscience because it seeks to verify rather than falsify theories. Rather than seeking confirmation of ideas, the scientific method should maintain objectivity within empiricism as Popper defines it. He then outlines the degrees of testability and how to determine them. Chapter 7 focuses on the problem of simplicity. Popper defines simplicity by explaining what it is not, and he argues that it should be a determining factor in the statement and methodology selected by the scientist. Simplicity has a greater degree of falsifiability, making the simplest theories the most viable.

In Part 2, Chapter 8-New Appendices, Popper dives deep into how his ideas might be applied. He establishes a new theory of probability called “frequency theory.” He suggests that by stretching out a sequence of seemingly random events, a scientist may then be able to determine a pattern. He utilizes the throws of a die to illustrate this idea. He shows how to determine frequency for finite and infinite classes and then applies his theory to some of the recurring problems in quantum mechanics. Popper closes by defining corroboration and separating his definition from a concept of “truth.”

The Logic of Scientific Discovery helped to usher in a new wave of scientific inquiry. Rather than relying on belief or seeking answers of truth, Popper’s work allowed for a simpler goal: to seek falsifiability. Popper established that science is an unending process. Experimentation and hypotheses refine ideas but never finalize them. By leaving science open, it has the potential to always advance and to always take whatever idea with the highest degree of testability and scientific soundness to build upon.