Epistemological current founded by the Austrian philosopher Karl Popper (1902-1994). For Popper, contrasting a theory means trying to refute it using a counterexample. If it is not possible to refute it, this theory is corroborated, and can be provisionally accepted, but not verified; that is, no theory is absolutely true, but at most “not refuted.” This concept is one of the pillars of the scientific method.
Published in Chapter:
Risk and Uncertainty on Technology and Science Under Bayes and Popper's Statements View
Vicente Gonzalez-Prida (University of Seville, Spain & Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain), Jesus Zamora Bonilla (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain), Christopher Nikulin Chandia (University Federico Santa María, Chile), and Antonio Guillén (University of Seville, Spain)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 14
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-3246-1.ch007
Abstract
The overall perspective of this study is related to the concept of risk and uncertainty in the world today. In this sense, it considers Popper's contributions together with the deductive method, contrasted Bayes' contributions with the inductive method. On one hand, induction allows to generate results considered probabilistically true. This is basically the method used by supervised predictive methods of machine learning, where a general rule is inferred from particular examples in which solutions are known, inducing consequently to possible results for new inputs. On the other hand, deduction is a process in which general hypotheses are proposed, and from them, particular statements are obtained. These particular statements can obviously generate the rejection of those initial hypotheses. Under these considerations, Bayes' and Popper's postulates should not be understood as opposed methods. With this, the specific objectives of this chapter states on an overview about technology and its relationship with science, being analyzed from the Popperian and Bayesian perspective.