The falsifiability of curve-hypotheses

✍ Scribed by Michael Martin

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1965
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 303 KB
• Volume: 16
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0031-8116
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00398802

✦ Synopsis

The Falsifiability o) Curve-Hypotheses by MICHAEL MARTIN UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO

]ERROLD KATZ I has argued that Karl Popper is mistaken in his view that some curve-hypotheses are more easily falsifiable than other curve-hypotheses. 2 Popper's thesis is based on his contention that some curve-hypotheses require fewer observations to falsify them than do other curve-hypotheses. Katz, however, argues that all curve-hypotheses can be falsified by one observation. Since Popper identifies simplicity with falsifiability, Katz's argument, if correct, would show that on Popper's view of simplicity all curve-hypotheses are equally simple. Without wishing to question Katz's other arguments against Popper, I will argue that Katz has misunderstood Popper's views on the falsifiability of curve-hypotheses and that his argument against Popper's thesis is in this respect wide of the mark. Hence, Katz cannot use this argument to show that Popper's account of simplicity in terms of falsifiability is mistaken. But I will also argue that Popper's own account of the falsifiability of curvehypotheses is mistaken on independent grounds.