Science Can Not Be Defined - 1531 Words

Science Cannot be Defined Calvin Berndt Philosophy of Science Spring 2015 05/03/2015 There are a multitude of conflicting theories that aim to conclude the definition of science, and all of them have underlying issues that make them inadequate in giving a definitive definition. According to Dictionary.com the current prevailing definition of science is â€Å"the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment (Dictionary, n.d.).† However, the attempted definitions of science are not useless as they are still very useful in understanding what science is and what it means to carry out science, but there is no simple unobjectionable definition. The before-mentioned†¦show more content†¦The example Bauer uses to demonstrate this idea is â€Å"just because the first million swans were white, one could not guarantee that the next one would be white also. (Bauer, 1992)† The very next swan could indeed be black, and because of this possibility the thesis that ‘all swans are white ’ could never be true. David Hume brings up the fact that although we have always perceived the same cause and effect, their connection is not necessarily true. Another example would be that all metals expand when heated. It is true that all of the metals humans have identified to this point in time have been tested to expand when heated, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we will never discover a metal that doesn’t expand when it is heated in the future. Hume concludes induction cannot be a rational inference, due to the fact that inductions can produce false conclusions from true premises, and ultimately implies the idea that correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation. These examples demonstrate the idea that no absolute certainty can be derived from the scientific method. Karl Popper expands this idea by saying that what makes something scientific is the concept of it being falsifiable, rather than a method that results in absolute truth (Jogal ekar, 2014). This means that in order for a theory to be scientific it has to have the possibility of being tested to be false or incorrect. According to Popper, this is also