Philosophy of Science and Source Evaluation
Apply philosophy of science concepts — falsifiability, paradigm shifts, scientific consensus — to evaluate scientific claims.
Philosophy of science examines how science works — how theories are tested, how consensus is formed, and how science changes over time. This understanding is essential for evaluating scientific claims critically.
Popper and Falsifiability
Karl Popper argued that what distinguishes science from non-science is falsifiability — a scientific claim must be capable of being proven wrong by evidence. A claim that cannot be falsified is not scientific. This criterion helps distinguish genuine scientific claims from pseudoscience.
Kuhn and Paradigm Shifts
Thomas Kuhn argued that science does not progress through gradual accumulation of knowledge but through periodic "paradigm shifts" — revolutionary changes in the fundamental framework of a field. Normal science operates within a paradigm; anomalies accumulate until a crisis triggers a shift to a new paradigm.
The Copernican revolution (Earth orbits the Sun), the germ theory of disease, plate tectonics, and the discovery of DNA all represented paradigm shifts — fundamental changes in how scientists understood their fields.
Scientific Consensus vs. Scientific Debate
Scientific consensus is the collective judgment of the scientific community on a question, based on the weight of evidence. It is not unanimous agreement — scientists always debate details — but it represents the best current understanding. Distinguishing genuine scientific debate from manufactured controversy is a critical information literacy skill.
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3 questions · Grade 11 level