Popperian ecology is a delusion
Abstract During the last 50 years, a group of ecologists has repeatedly used Popper's falsificationism in normative claims concerning how research in ecology should be conducted and/or how ecology should be corrected. Other ecologists seem to be dissatisfied with these criticisms. Nevertheless,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11106 |
| _version_ | 1827308877395263488 |
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| author | Jani Raerinne |
| author_facet | Jani Raerinne |
| author_sort | Jani Raerinne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract During the last 50 years, a group of ecologists has repeatedly used Popper's falsificationism in normative claims concerning how research in ecology should be conducted and/or how ecology should be corrected. Other ecologists seem to be dissatisfied with these criticisms. Nevertheless, they have not provided systematic analyses of how and why the Popperian criticisms of ecology fail. I have two aims in this article First, I show how so‐called Popperian ecologists have not only failed to use but have misused – if not abused – Popper in their criticisms of ecology. That is, the Popperian criticisms of ecology lack the justification the critics claim it has. Second, I claim that Popper's falsificationism is an unsuitable philosophy of science for ecology. In other words, ecology should not be criticized nor evaluated from the Popperian perspective in the first place. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T19:18:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3650e46c72f247bfa02f4a241848f397 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T19:18:21Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-3650e46c72f247bfa02f4a241848f3972024-03-26T04:26:57ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-03-01143n/an/a10.1002/ece3.11106Popperian ecology is a delusionJani Raerinne0Faculty of Social Science University of Helsinki Helsinki FinlandAbstract During the last 50 years, a group of ecologists has repeatedly used Popper's falsificationism in normative claims concerning how research in ecology should be conducted and/or how ecology should be corrected. Other ecologists seem to be dissatisfied with these criticisms. Nevertheless, they have not provided systematic analyses of how and why the Popperian criticisms of ecology fail. I have two aims in this article First, I show how so‐called Popperian ecologists have not only failed to use but have misused – if not abused – Popper in their criticisms of ecology. That is, the Popperian criticisms of ecology lack the justification the critics claim it has. Second, I claim that Popper's falsificationism is an unsuitable philosophy of science for ecology. In other words, ecology should not be criticized nor evaluated from the Popperian perspective in the first place.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11106ecologyfalsificationPopperstrong inferencetestability |
| spellingShingle | Jani Raerinne Popperian ecology is a delusion Ecology and Evolution ecology falsification Popper strong inference testability |
| title | Popperian ecology is a delusion |
| title_full | Popperian ecology is a delusion |
| title_fullStr | Popperian ecology is a delusion |
| title_full_unstemmed | Popperian ecology is a delusion |
| title_short | Popperian ecology is a delusion |
| title_sort | popperian ecology is a delusion |
| topic | ecology falsification Popper strong inference testability |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11106 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT janiraerinne popperianecologyisadelusion |