All perspectives

1934

Popper — Risky tests rather than piles of confirmations

Does what a theory forbids matter more than the number of observations that seem to support it?

Evidence-backed account

Popper argues that finite observations cannot verify a universal theory, while empirical science requires claims exposed to possible counterinstances.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Karl Popper

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: §2.3 Demarcation and §2.4 Basic Statements and Falsifiability

    Open source

Because real tests involve auxiliary assumptions, measurement error, and statistical judgment, the slogan that one observation automatically discards one theory oversimplifies both Popper and later debate.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Karl Popper

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: §3.1–§3.3, corroboration, conventionalist stratagems, and methodology

    Open source
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