Zuzana Parusniková David Merritt   Editors Karl Popper’s Science and Philosophy Karl Popper’s Science and Philosophy · Zuzana Parusniková David Merritt Editors Karl Popper’s Science and Philosophy Editors ZuzanaParusniková DavidMerritt InstituteofPhilosophy RochesterInstituteofTechnology CzechAcademyofSciences Rochester,NY,USA Prague,CzechRepublic ISBN978-3-030-67035-1 ISBN978-3-030-67036-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67036-8 ©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNature SwitzerlandAG2021 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,whether thewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuse ofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,and transmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilar ordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbook arebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany errorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictional claimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland Preface Ofallphilosophersofthetwentiethcentury,KarlPopperstandsoutastheonewho didmosttobuildbridgesbetweenthediverseacademicdisciplines. His first major work, Logik der Forschung (1934), concerns scientific method. Popper’s ideas were formed in the intellectual climate dominated by the logical positivism of the Wiener Kreis; despite a great diversity in academic interests, the membersoftheViennaCirclewantedtoreaffirmthescientificethosoftheEnlight- enment ideal. Excited by the revolutionary ideas of Einstein (whom they engaged inbothscientificandphilosophicaldiscussions),theybelievedthatphilosophymust playanactiveroleinthisnewerabydrawingasclosetoscienceaspossible.Although Poppersharedthesegeneralideals,hestrictlyrejectedallthemainpillarsoftheposi- tivistphilosophyofscience:inductivistlogicofdiscovery,theverifiabilityprinciple andtheconcernwithmeaning.Insingle-handedoppositiontothisinfluentialphilo- sophical movement, Popper offered new solutions: a hypothetico-deductive view of science, based on falsifiability as the demarcation criterion and a denial of the claimthatscientifictheoriescouldbeverified.Itisfairtosaythattheradicalismof Popper’s proposals caused an upheaval among philosophers of science, especially afterthepublicationofhisworkinEnglishin1959. WiththeadventofWorldWarII,Popperappliedhisrevolutionarymethodological ideastopoliticalphilosophy.Hebecamefamousforhistheoryoftheopensociety,in whichhecriticizedauthoritarianandtotalitariansocialsystemsbasedonthedoctrine of historicism, that is, historical inevitability. The future is open, said Popper, and sinceweallarefalliblesoareoursocialandpoliticalsystems.Holisticexperiments, awillingnesstosacrificeone’slifeforahighergood,mustbeavoidedandreplaced byamoremodestpiecemealsocialengineering,inwhichmistakescanbecorrected andsocietyreformedwithoutbloodshed.Thesameistrue,heargued,forpolitical regimes: Popular replacement of governments is the keystone of democracy, and democracyis—despiteitsmanyimperfections—thebestformofgovernmentknown sofar. Later,Popperfocusedonwiderproblemsofthegrowthofknowledge.Rational discussion, he suggested, depends on a readiness to listen to critical arguments and should not aim to demonstrate truth. Scientific theories are guesswork, but by constantlysubjectingtheoriestotesting,sciencecanprogress.Hismethodological v vi Preface principle of criticism is thus the core of a dynamic but challenging epistemology, requiringanadventurousspiritandawillingnesstomakeriskyconjectures.Falsifica- tion—Popper’s“negativemethodology”—takesonapositiverolethatofuncovering newproblemsthroughtheeliminationoffailedhypotheses.Poppershiftedthefocus ofmethodologyfromprovingtoundermining,fromestablishingtocriticalactivity itself.Inabroaderphilosophicalsense,heproposedanantifoundationalistmodelof rationalitythatviewsallknowledgeasconjectural,hypotheticalandprovisional. Notsurprisingly,Popperisoneofthefewphilosophersofsciencewhoinspired scientists(especiallytheNobelPrizewinnersPeterMedawar,JacquesMonodand John Eccles, in addition to the biologist Donald Campbell, the biochemist Günter WächtershäuserandthemathematicianHermannBondi),andhewonrecognitionby thescientificestablishment(hewaselectedaFellowoftheRoyalSocietyin1976). ItwasPopper’semphasisonscientificresearchasanadventure,inwhichscientists constantlyandfearlesslyattackreceivedopinionsinthesearchforthetruthandfor newandinterestingproblems,thatwassomuchadmired. This is not a list of Popper’s contributions; let us nevertheless mention his herculean success in presenting an axiomatic system for probability that provides a genuine generalization of (propositional) deductive logic, his success in devel- opingthetheoryoflogicasatheoryofdeduction,hisdefenseofrealisminquantum mechanics,hisstudyofthebody–mindproblemandhisinvolvementindiscussions ofevolutionarybiology.Hismethodologyandepistemologyhavebeenwidelyand vividly discussed, but his impact on scientific research and his contributions to it havereceivedlessattention.Theaimofthisbookisthustoillustrate,andevaluate, theimpact,bothsubstantiveandmethodological,thatPopperhashadinthenatural andmathematicalsciences.Anattemptismadetopinpointtheconnectionsbetween these contributions and his central philosophical concerns. The topics selected are quantummechanics,evolutionarybiology,cosmology,mathematicallogic,statistics andcognitivescience.Theapproachismultidisciplinary,openingadialogueacross scientificdisciplinesandbetweenscientistsandphilosophers.1 Itisalwaysfascinatingtowatchthemomentsofrupturewhenphilosophyacquires a completely new impetus and challenges the established ways of perceiving the world.KarlPopperoverturnedthetraditionalvaluesascribedtoreasonandrevolu- tionized the field of philosophy of science. Inevitably, his views provoked debates anddisagreements.OurowngoalhereisnottoglorifyPopperbuttoinvitethestudy ofhisbestideasanddevelopcriticalperspectivesthroughtheevaluationofhisideas andhiswork. Prague,Czechia ZuzanaParusniková Rochester,NY,USA DavidMerritt 1TheimpulsetoinvestigatePopper’sinfluenceonscienceemergedatthePopperSymposiumheld attheCLMPST2019inPragueandsupportedbytheKarlPopperCharitableTrust.Manythanks toJosephAgassiwhocontributedwithvaluablecommentsandadvicetothisvolume. Contents KarlPopper:HisPhilosophyandScience ............................ 1 ZuzanaParusniková PhysicsandCosmology PopperandtheQuantumControversy .............................. 17 FlavioDelSantoandOlivalFreireJr. Popper’sExperiment .............................................. 37 YanhuaShih KarlPopperandModernCosmology:HisThoughtsandTheir Impact ........................................................... 53 HelgeKragh MONDandMethodology .......................................... 69 DavidMerritt TheApplicationofPopperian Methodology toContemporary Cosmology ........................................................ 97 AnastasiiaLazutkina StatisticalTestingandLogic Popper’s Falsification and Corroboration from the Statistical Perspectives ....................................................... 121 YoungjoLeeandYudiPawitan PopperonQuantificationandIdentity ............................... 149 DavidBinderandThomasPiecha LogicalMaximalismintheEmpiricalSciences ....................... 171 ConstantinC.Brîncus¸ TheRoleofLogicinScience ........................................ 185 NimrodBar-Am vii viii Contents Biology RehabilitationofKarlPopper’sIdeasonEvolutionaryBiology andtheNatureofBiologicalScience ................................. 193 DenisNobleandRaymondNoble AgencyinEvolutionaryBiology ..................................... 211 PhilipMadgwick Popper,Darwin,andBiology ....................................... 231 Hans-JoachimNiemann TheArkansasCreationismTrialFortyYearsOn ..................... 257 MichaelRuse CognitiveScience PopperontheMind-BrainRelation ................................. 279 PeterÅrhem KarlPopperontheEvolutionofConsciousness ....................... 295 ManjariChakrabarty Popper’sEmergentism ............................................. 321 OlgaMarkicˇ ThePlaceoftheMindinNature .................................... 337 JosephAgassi Objective Information, Intersubjectivity, and Popper’s Three Worlds ........................................................... 345 NirFresco Index ............................................................. 361 Contributors JosephAgassi TelAvivUniversity,TelAviv-Yafo,Israel; YorkUniversity,Toronto,Canada PeterÅrhem Department of Neuroscience and Department of Clinical Neuro- science,KarolinskaInstitutet,Stockholm,Sweden NimrodBar-Am Communication Department, Sapir College, Shaar Hanegev, Israel DavidBinder Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Tübingen,Germany ConstantinC.Brîncus¸ Institute for Research in the Humanities, The Research InstituteoftheUniversityofBucharest,Bucharest,Romania ManjariChakrabarty VisvaBharati(CentralUniversity),Santiniketan,India FlavioDelSanto FacultyofPhysics,UniversityofVienna,Vienna,Austria; InstituteforQuantumOptics,QuantumInformation,AustrianAcademyofScience, Vienna,Austria OlivalFreireJr. Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil NirFresco Ben-GurionUniversityoftheNegev,BeerSheva,Israel HelgeKragh Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark AnastasiiaLazutkina LUTUniversity,Lappeenranta,Finland YoungjoLee Department of Statistics, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea PhilipMadgwick MilnerCentreforEvolutionDepartmentofBiology&Biochem- istry,UniversityofBath,Bath,UK ix x Contributors OlgaMarkicˇ DepartmentofPhilosophy,FacultyofArts,UniversityofLjubljana, Ljubljana,Slovenia DavidMerritt Rochester,NY,USA Hans-JoachimNiemann Poxdorf,Germany DenisNoble Department of Physiology Anatomy & Genetics, University of Oxford,Oxford,UK RaymondNoble Institute for Women’s Health, University College London, London,UK ZuzanaParusniková InstituteofPhilosophy,CzechAcademyofSciences,Prague, Czechia YudiPawitan DepartmentofMedicalEpidemiologyandBiostatistics,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden ThomasPiecha Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Tübingen,Germany MichaelRuse FloridaStateUniversity,Tallahassee,FL,USA YanhuaShih Department of Physics, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA