Falsifiability

These ideas have many virtues, but falsifiability is not one of them.

The degree of their testability is of significance for the selection of theories. In this chapter, I shall compare the various degrees of testability or falsifiability of theories through comparing the classes of their potential falsifiers.

A proposition is scientific if and only if it is falsifiable. This is the criterion or principle of falsifiability. Falsifiability must be distinguished from falsity, of course.

The need for some such criterion is one reason why falsifiability of theories holds special importance in this book. If theories yield statements in the empirical world that stand to be confirmed or undermined by actual empirical reports, we have the basis for one overarching standard.