Portal:Philosophy of science/Selected biography/1
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Karl Popper (1902-1994) was an Austrian and British philosopher, counted among the most influential philosophers of science of the 20th century. His book The Logic of Scientific Discovery criticises psychologism, naturalism, inductionism, and logical positivism, and puts forth his theory of potential falsifiability being the criterion for what should be considered science.
He coined the term critical rationalism to describe his theory, rejecting classical empiricism, and holding that scientific theories are universal in nature, and can only be tested indirectly, with reference to their implications. He also held that scientific theory, and human knowledge generally, is irreducibly conjectural or hypothetical, and is generated by the creative imagination in order to solve problems that have arisen in specific historico-cultural settings.
