Popper's thesis of the unity of scientific method

method versus techniques

Carlos Verdugo

pp. 155-160

in: Zuzana Parusniková, Robert S. Cohen (eds), Rethinking Popper, Berlin, Springer, 2009

Abstract

Recently some philosophers have claimed that Popper's conception of the unity of method in science presents some serious problems. According to these philosophers, there is a clear divergence in his defense for the unity of scientific methodology and his thesis that the method of situational analysis or the logic of the situation constitutes "the proper method of the social sciences". I will show that these criticisms can be met by using certain distinctions that have been fashioned in contemporary philosophy of science, among others, the distinction between scientific method and scientific techniques and also between the context of discovery and the context of validation.

Cited authors

Popper Karl