Critical Rationalism: A Copernican Revolution in Contemporary Philosophy

Abstract

The twentieth century witnessed significant scientific development and gave rise to a number of epistemological problems that became the subject matter of contemporary philosophy of science. The project of the contemporary philosopher of science “Karl Popper” was to uncover the logic governing the development of scientific research. The aim of this article is to identify the criterion that distinguishes science from non-science according to Popper, the logic governing its progression, and his position toward traditional philosophies and logical positivism.

The study concludes that the criterion of “falsifiability”, according to Popper, is what distinguishes science from non-science. Science does not develop through “verification”, as claimed by the positivists, but rather through “refutation and falsification”.