THE

PHILOSOPHIES OF
KUHN AND
POPPER
A COMPARISON
INTELLECTUALISM STARTED
WHEN HUMAN KNOWLEDGE
BEGUN TO BE DISSEMINATED
(PAPYRUS, WRITING ON THE
WALLS, PRINTING PRESS) –
PUBLISHED MATERIALS, BOOKS,
JOURNALS AND THE MEDIA=
INFORMATION AGE
• Intellect means mind and knowledge (reasoning and
understanding)
• The Foundation of Science (& Technology) deals mostly
with history and philosophy (epistemology)
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy plays a large role

in the shaping of what we
define as science
KARL POPPER

1902 - 1994
KARL POPPER

• A Great Contemporary Philosopher (20th Century)

• “Science may be described as the art of systematic oversimplification.”
KARL POPPER

Science should be testable,

refutable and falsifiable.
(modus tollens,logic)
KARL POPPER
If Socrates is a god, then Socrates is immortal
But Socrates is not immortal
Therefore, Socrates is not a god
If a scientific hypothesis can have this logic
applied then it is a science, if not it is a pseudo-
science.
KARL POPPER

• Falsification
To test falsification, you need a theory
which is ‘testable’ to determine if it
can be proven false.
KARL POPPER
• Induction and Verification:
Why was 6 afraid of 7? because 7 8 9. Why
was 7 afraid of 8? Induction

Popper rejected verification since it relied

on induction.
THOMAS SAMUEL KUHN

1922 - 1996
THOMAS SAMUEL KUHN

• The Man who changed the Way the World looked at Science (Scientific
Revolution – paradigm shifts)
• Physicist from Harvard, Berkeley, Princeton, Cambridge
THOMAS S. KUHN
• Scientific progress is revolutionary rather
than steady and cumulative.
• Scientific change cannot be explained
entirely as a rational process; sociology
and psychology are needed to explain
scientific change.
THOMAS S. KUHN

Paradigm typical components

1. explicitly stated laws and theoretical assumptions
(e.g., F=ma)
2. standard ways of applying the fundamental laws
to various situations (e.g., ways of applying
Newton’s laws of motion to planetary motion)
THOMAS S. KUHN
Paradigm typical components

3. instrumentation and instrumental techniques

(e.g., telescopes)
4. general metaphysical principles to guide work
within the paradigm (e.g., “God does not play
dice.”)
THOMAS S. KUHN
Paradigm typical components
5. general methodological principles (e.g., Attempt
to resolve anomalies within the paradigm)
6. criteria of acceptability for scientific
explanations (e.g., Explanations may not include
any references to the supernatural.)
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION TO
PARADIGM SHIFT
PARADIGM SHIFT
ACTIVITY

1. Identify one (1) paradigm shift in the following:

• Asia
• Meso-America
• Middle East – Mesopotamia
• Africa
• Philippines
2. Discuss the shift following Kuhn’s Cycle: from normal science to the new shift
(paradigm)