Falsifikation

Falsifikation, in English falsification, is a concept in the philosophy of science describing how theories are tested and potentially refuted by observation and experiment. The central idea is that a theory should make predictions that could be proven false by empirical data. The notion was popularized by Karl Popper, who argued that the growth of science proceeds through conjectures followed by attempts to falsify them rather than by attempts to verify them.

A key aspect is falsifiability: a claim is scientific if it is falsifiable, meaning that there exists some possible observation that could show it to be false. For example, the statement "All swans are white" can be falsified by the observation of a single black swan. Falsification guides the scientific method by encouraging rigorous tests and openness to revision.

Falsification is often contrasted with verificationism, the view that science confirms theories by accumulating positive instances. Popper stressed that no number of positive observations can conclusively verify a universal claim, but a single counterexample can falsify it.

Critics have pointed out limitations: some scientific practice involves gradual refinement rather than outright refutation, and historical and theoretical sciences may resist simple falsification. Kuhn’s notion of paradigm shifts argues that scientists work within frameworks that are not easily falsified. Nonetheless, falsification remains influential as a criterion for testability and as a general methodological reminder to seek potentially refuting evidence.

In sum, falsifikation describes how scientific claims should be framed so that they can be tested and possibly overturned by empirical data, advancing knowledge through refutation and revision.