Falsifikációt

Falsifikációt is the Hungarian word for falsification or refutation. In philosophy of science, the concept is most closely associated with Karl Popper's critique of the verification principle of logical positivism. Popper argued that scientific theories cannot be definitively verified, as no amount of empirical evidence can conclusively prove a universal statement. Instead, he proposed that a theory is scientific if and only if it is falsifiable, meaning it can be potentially disproven by observation or experiment.

A falsifiable statement or hypothesis is one that can be logically contradicted by evidence. For example, the statement "all swans are white" is falsifiable because the existence of a single black swan would prove it false. In contrast, a statement that is so vague or broad that no conceivable observation could contradict it is not falsifiable and thus, according to Popper, not scientific.

The process of falsification involves empirical testing. Scientists propose hypotheses and then design experiments or make observations to try and disprove them. If a hypothesis withstands these attempts at falsification, it gains credibility, but it is never considered definitively proven. The ongoing process of attempting to falsify and refining theories is central to the advancement of scientific knowledge. This approach contrasts with earlier inductivist views that emphasized accumulating evidence to confirm theories.