The procedures of science typically include a number of heuristic guidelines. A conceptual system that fails to meet a significant number of these criteria is likely to be considered non-scientific. The following is a list of additional features that are highly desirable in a scientific theory.

• Reproducible – makes predictions that can be tested by any observer, with trials extending indefinitely into the future

• Falsifiable and testable

• Consistent – generates no obvious logical contradictions and being consistent with observations

• Pertinent – describes and explains observed phenomena

• Correctable and dynamic – subject to modification as new observations are made

• Integrative, robust, and corrigible – subsumes previous theories as approximations, and allows possible subsumption by future theories. ("Robust", here, refers to stability in the statistical sense, i.e., not very sensitive to occasional outlying data points

• Parsimonious – economical in the number of assumptions and hypothetical entities

• Provisional or tentative – does not assert the absolute certainty of the theory

Questions

1. What is logical positivism?
2. What do you mean by falsificationism?
3. How did Kuhn examine the shifts of paradigms in science?
4. How did Feyerabend address the problem of autonomy in science?
5. How did Thagard address the problem of demarcation between science and non-science?
6. How did Laudan reject the demarcation problem?
7. Critically examine ‘demarcation' in contemporary scientific method.