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Essay / Essay on Karl Popper - 560
Karl Popper is known to be one of the most influential philosophers of science. Karl Popper, like many others, used logical analysis of arguments to explain how science really works. With his theory of falsification, Popper explains how scientific theories can never be proven, but can be falsified (Doria, 2009; Grant, 2005; Kurz, 1996; Shareef, 2007; Ter Hark, 2004). Specifically, Popper explains why science progresses not by proving theories right, but by rejecting old theories as false. The idea that multiple observations cannot prove a theory to be correct, since the next observation may contradict them, is what led Popper to question how valid a theory might be (Doria, 2009). But what about changing a hypothesis? Can theories be saved? Many people have questioned Popper's philosophical ideas and criticized his skepticism. Popper was very interested in the philosophy of science, which led him to neglect psychology in scientific studies; however, ironically, his ideas contribute greatly to the understanding of psychology and its history (Kurz, 1996; Ter Hark...