#101 (C&R Chap 10, Part IV) - Was Popper Wrong about Verisimilitude?

Wasn't Popper a falsificationist? Then why did he try to develop ideas about corroboration and versimilitude - the extent to which a theory was closer to truth than another theory? Isn't this verging dangerously close to verificationist territory?

In our fourth ep on Chapter 10 in C&R, we wrestle with Popper's treatment of verisimilutude, both the formal and informal versions. Did the project fail? Was Popper out of his mind? Does this invalidate everything?

We discuss

Murders with ball-peen hammers

Walking the line between verification and falsification

Is science only after truth?

Verisimilutude and its formalization

Why the formalization fails

Popper's three requirements for the growth of knowledge

Popper's ratchet and the no ad-hoc rule

Quotes

Like many other philosophers I am at times inclined to classify philosophers as belonging to two main groups—those with whom I disagree, and those who agree with me.