New Foundations for Science and Metaphysics : A Study on Karl Popper`s Philosophy of Science / Manoj Vengathanam.

includes index and biblioraphy

POPPER`S PHILOSOPHY VERSUS LOGICAL POSITIVISM Logical Positivism .............................. Verifiability Principle .............................. Strong Verifiability .............................. Weak Verifiability .............................. The Problem of Induction .............................. The Logical Problem .............................. The Psychological Problem.............................. Popper`s Approach to the Problem of Knowledge ........ Empiricism: Popper`s Criticism ......................... The Nature of Human Knowledge ................... Dogmatic and Critical Thinking....................... Scientific Knowledge .............................. Popper`s mdetemunism .............................. Evolution and World 3 .............................. THE LOGIC OF SCIENCE ............................... 49 The Nature of Scientific Theories ............................... 49 Essentialism ............................... 49 Instrumentalism .............................. 52 Theories as Conjectures ........................... 54 The Problem of Demarcation ............................. 58 Falsifiability and Falsification ............................. 65 The Empirical Basis of Scientific Theories ................... 68 Universal and Existential Statements ................. 69 Fries` Trilemma ............................. 70 Degrees of Testability ............................. 73 Probability Statements and Falsification ....................... 75 Classical, Subjective and Frequency Interpretations of Probability ...................... 76 The Propensity Theory of Probability ................ 78 Falsification of Probability Statements ................ 79 Corroboration of a Theory ............................... 80 Truth and Verisimilitude ............................... 82 SOCIAL SCIENCES 89 Natural and Social Sciences ................................. 89 Historicism ................91 Plato ................................. 92 Hegel ................................ 96 Marx ................................. 100 Historicism and Social Sciences ......................... 105 The Unity of Method ................................. 109 Open Society ................................. 116 POPPER`S EPISTEMOLOGY AS CRITICAL RATIONALISM 125 Critical Rationalism ............................... 125 The Novelty of Popper`s Epistemology ....................... 130 Physics and Metaphysics .............................. 132 Popper and Contemporary Philosophy of Science ......... 134 A Critical Appraisal ................................. 136