---
id:"kb-2026-00473"
title:"Philosophy of Science"
schema_type:"TechArticle"
category:"arts"
language:"en"
confidence:"high"
last_verified:"2026-05-22"
generation_method:"ai_assisted"
ai_models:["claude-opus"]
derived_from_human_seed:true
primary_sources:
  - title:"The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Thomas Kuhn)"
    type:"book"
    year:1962
    url:"https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo13179781.html"
    institution:"University of Chicago Press"
secondary_sources:
  - title: "MDN Web Docs — HTTP"
    type: "documentation"
    year: 2026
    url: "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP"
    institution: "Mozilla"
completeness: 0.88
ai_citations:
  last_citation_check:"2026-05-22"
---

## TL;DR

Philosophy of science examines how science works. Kuhn (1962) challenged the view of science as steady accumulation: instead, 'paradigm shifts' disrupt 'normal science.' Popper: falsifiability demarcates science from non-science — a theory must be testable and refutable. Scientific realism vs. instrumentalism: do theories describe reality or just predict observations?

## Core Explanation

Kuhn: normal science (puzzle-solving within paradigm) → anomalies accumulate → crisis → paradigm shift (scientific revolution). Example: Newtonian physics → Einsteinian relativity. Incommensurability: different paradigms can't be fully compared — they use different concepts. Popper: Freudian psychoanalysis and Marxism are unfalsifiable → not science. Reproducibility crisis (2010s): many published findings fail to replicate — methodology reform ongoing.

## Further Reading

- [The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Thomas Kuhn)](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo13179781.html)