Confirmation (philosophy of science)
Confirmation (Engl. Confirmation ) as the terminus of the philosophy of science is the process or the result of empirical or theoretical verification of a hypothesis.
Confirmation is weaker than a logical implication and stronger than a mere compatibility of statements. A confirmation of a general statement by examining individual examples does not rule out that there are or could be counterexamples.
The logical form of confirmation is: "If p, then q; q therefore p.".
- Example: If all ravens are black, then the raven here is also black. The spot raven is black so this confirms that all ravens are black.
The confirmation of theories it comes to the question of confirmation of general empirical judgments by observation sentences .
A distinction is made between inductive and deductive confirmation theories.
Rudolf Carnap developed an inductive confirmation theory in connection with an inductive logic , according to which the scientific claim of a theory should depend on the confirmation ability through observation sentences.
Deductive confirmation theories such as that of Karl Raimund Popper are based on probation and emphasize the falsifiability of hypotheses.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cf. Regenbogen / Meyer: Dictionary of Philosophical Terms. Meiner, Hamburg 2005: Confirmation.
- ↑ See Detel, Basic Course Philosophy I: Logic (2007), p. 55
Web links
- Vincenzo Crupi: Confirmation. In: Edward N. Zalta (Ed.): Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy .