Freudian Theory and Poppers Falsifiability Essay - 1

Freudian Theory and Poppers Falsifiability - Essay Example In doing so, I shall argue that although Freudian psychology cannot be falsified, and is thus deemed as pseudo-scientific, it nevertheless works in both scientific theory and practice. How do we distinguish between science and pseudo-science? Popper’s solution to the demarcation problem is really quite simple. He says that what distinguishes scientific claims from non-scientific ones is its falsifiability. Thus, a hypothesis is scientific if and only if there is some way in which it can be falsified by means of some experiment. If we cannot construct an experiment, which can potentially falsify a hypothesis, then the hypothesis, even if it is meaningful, is really not quite scientific. In line with these two theories that are foundational to Popper’s philosophy, it is clear that Popper views science as a rational enterprise, where theory-change is characterized by scientific progress. According to Popper, science changes through a two-step cycle. Stage one is conjecture, and the second stage is attempted refutation. Under the stage of conjecture, a theory is proposed as an attempt to solve the problem at hand. The theory is then put to test by attempted refutations. Attempted refutation occurs when â€Å"the hypothesis is subjected to critical testing, in an attempts to show that it is false† (Godfrey-Smith, 2003, p. 61). Moreover, Popper notes that after the hypothesis is refuted, the process repeats again starting from a new conjecture, and so on and so forth. If the theory is corroborated, then it is temporarily accepted as un-refuted, but not justified. What is important to take note of here is that as the process goes on, the scientist tends to propose new conjectures that are related to previous conjectures. Thus, a scientific theory is merely modified and improved through this process of conjecture and refutation, i.e. falsification of the previous conjectures.