Réfutabilité

Réfutabilité, from the French word for refutability, is the philosophical principle that a claim or hypothesis must be potentially falsifiable by evidence or observation. The concept is closely linked to the notion of falsifiability first articulated by philosopher Karl Popper. According to Popper, a scientific theory is meaningful and should be considered scientifically valid only if there exists some conceivable experiment or observation that could show it to be false. This standard distinguishes science from metaphysics or pseudoscience, as the latter often lack clear criteria for falsification.

In practice, réfutabilité can be applied to empirical hypotheses, laws, models, and even ethics. For a claim to be refutable, its proponents must specify testable predictions and be open to revision or rejection if contradictory data emerge. The principle embodies the idea that science is a cumulative process of bold conjectures and critical tests, not of proof. Donald Davidson and other analytic philosophers later expanded on Popper’s ideas, arguing that the ability to anticipate refutation is a key ingredient of logical coherence.

Critics of réfutabilité argue that not all meaningful propositions are strictly testable, and some argue that a strictly refutable framework may undermine therapeutic or normative claims that cannot be directly falsified. Nevertheless, réfutabilité remains a cornerstone in the methodology of science, influencing how researchers design experiments, evaluate theories, and explain the reliability of knowledge.