Ornithology
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| + | ''[[Birds of Venezuela]]'' (1973) by Jean-Claude Roché | ||
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| - | '''Falsifiability''' or '''refutability''' of a [[proposition|statement]], [[hypothesis]], or [[theory]] is an inherent possibility to prove it to be false. A statement is called '''falsifiable''' if it is possible to conceive an observation or an argument which proves the statement in question to be false. In this sense, ''falsify'' is synonymous with ''nullify'', meaning not "to commit fraud" but "show to be false". Some philosophers argue that science must be falsifiable. | ||
| - | For example, by the [[problem of induction]], no number of confirming observations can verify a [[enumerative induction|universal generalization]], such as ''All swans are white'', yet it is logically possible to falsify it by observing a single [[black swan]]. Thus, the term ''falsifiability'' is sometimes synonymous to ''testability''. Some statements, such as ''It will be raining here in one million years'', are falsifiable in principle, but not in practice. | + | '''Ornithology''' is a branch of [[zoology]] that concerns the study of [[birds]]. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds. |
| - | The concern with falsifiability gained attention by way of [[philosophy of science|philosopher of science]] [[Karl Raimund Popper|Karl Popper]]'s scientific [[epistemology]] "[[falsificationism]]". Popper stresses the [[demarcation problem|problem of demarcation]]—distinguishing the scientific from the unscientific—and makes ''falsifiability'' the demarcation criterion, such that what is unfalsifiable is classified as [[unscientific]], and the practice of declaring an unfalsifiable theory to be [[scientific method|scientifically]] true is [[pseudoscience]]. This is often epitomized in [[Wolfgang Pauli]] famously saying, of an argument that fails to be scientific because it cannot be falsified by experiment, "it is not only not right, it is [[not even wrong]]!" | + | ==See also== |
| - | ===Inductive categorical inference=== | + | * [[Avian ecology field methods]] |
| - | Popper held that science could not be grounded on such an inferential basis. He proposed falsification as a solution to the [[problem of induction]]. Popper noticed that although a singular existential statement such as 'there is a white swan' cannot be used to affirm a universal statement, it can be used to show that one is false: the singular existential observation of a black swan serves to show that the universal statement 'all swans are white' is false—in logic this is called ''[[modus tollens]]''. 'There is a black swan' implies 'there is a non-white swan,' which, in turn, implies 'there is something that is a swan and that is not white', hence 'all swans are white' is false, because that is the same as 'there is ''nothing'' that is a swan and that is not white'. | + | * [[Bird observatory]] |
| + | * [[List of ornithologists]] | ||
| + | * [[List of ornithologists abbreviated names]] | ||
| + | * [[List of ornithological societies]] | ||
| + | * [[List of ornithology journals]] | ||
| + | * [[List of ornithology awards]] | ||
| - | One notices a white swan. From this one can conclude: | ||
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| - | :At least one swan is white. | ||
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| - | From this, one may wish to conjecture: | ||
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| - | :All swans are white. | ||
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| - | It is impractical to observe all the swans in the world to verify that they are all white. | ||
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| - | Even so, the statement ''all swans are white'' is testable by being falsifiable. For, if in testing many swans, the researcher finds a single [[black swan]], then the statement ''all swans are white'' would be falsified by the counterexample of the single black swan. | ||
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| - | ====Deductive falsification==== | ||
| - | {{unreferenced section|date=November 2011}} | ||
| - | Deductive falsification is different from an absence of [[Verification theory|verification]]. The falsification of statements occurs through ''[[modus tollens]]'', via some observation. Suppose some universal statement ''U'' forbids some [[observation]] ''O'': | ||
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| - | :<math>U \rightarrow \neg O</math> | ||
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| - | Observation O, however, is made: | ||
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| - | :<math>\ \ O</math> | ||
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| - | So by ''modus tollens'', | ||
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| - | :<math>\neg U</math> | ||
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| - | Although the logic of naïve falsification is valid, it is rather limited. Nearly any statement can be made to fit the data, so long as one makes the requisite 'compensatory adjustments'. Popper drew attention to these limitations in ''[[The Logic of Scientific Discovery]]'' in response to criticism from [[Pierre Duhem]]. [[Willard Van Orman Quine|W. V. Quine]] expounded this argument in detail, calling it [[confirmation holism]]. To logically falsify a [[universality (philosophy)|universal]], one must find a true falsifying singular statement. But Popper pointed out that it is always possible to ''change'' the universal statement or the existential statement so that falsification does not occur. On hearing that a black swan has been observed in Australia, one might introduce the ''[[ad hoc]]'' hypothesis, 'all swans are white except those found in Australia'; or one might adopt another, more cynical view about some observers, 'Australian [[ornithology|bird watchers]] are incompetent'. | ||
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| - | Thus, naïve falsification ought to, but does not, supply a way of handling competing hypotheses for many subject controversies (for instance [[conspiracy theories]] and [[urban legends]]). People arguing that there is no support for such an observation may argue that there is nothing to see, that all is normal, or that the differences or appearances are too small to be statistically significant. On the other side are those who concede that an observation has occurred and that a universal statement has been falsified as a consequence. Therefore, naïve falsification does not enable scientists, who rely on [[Objectivity (science)|objective]] criteria, to present a definitive falsification of universal statements. | ||
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| - | ==See also== | ||
| - | * [[Closed circle]] | ||
| - | * [[Cognitive bias]] | ||
| - | * [[Contingency]] | ||
| - | * [[Defeasible reasoning]] | ||
| - | * [[Demarcation problem]] | ||
| - | * [[Duhem–Quine thesis]] | ||
| - | * [[Fallibilism]] | ||
| - | * [[Fallacy]] ([[informal logic]] and [[rhetoric]]) | ||
| - | * [[False (logic)]] | ||
| - | * [[Hypothetico-deductive model]] | ||
| - | * [[Inquiry]] | ||
| - | * [[Logical positivism]] | ||
| - | * [[Metaphysical solipsism]] | ||
| - | * [[Methodological solipsism]] | ||
| - | * [[Not even wrong]] | ||
| - | * [[Occam's razor]] | ||
| - | * [[Philosophy of mathematics]] | ||
| - | * [[Philosophy of science]] | ||
| - | * [[Pragmatic maxim]] | ||
| - | * [[Precambrian rabbit]] | ||
| - | * [[Predictive power]] | ||
| - | * [[Reproducibility]] | ||
| - | * [[Scientific method]] | ||
| - | * [[Superseded scientific theory]] | ||
| - | * [[Tautology (logic)|Tautology]] | ||
| - | * [[Testability]] | ||
| - | * [[Theory-ladenness]] | ||
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Birds of Venezuela (1973) by Jean-Claude Roché |
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Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds.
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See also
- Avian ecology field methods
- Bird observatory
- List of ornithologists
- List of ornithologists abbreviated names
- List of ornithological societies
- List of ornithology journals
- List of ornithology awards
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