Conjectures and Refutations

What is the difference between empirical evidence and pure reasoning? What are their strengths and weaknesses, according to Popper? What are their roles in advancing scientific understanding?

Why are the greatest scientific discoveries not made from empirical observation, according to Popper? What can we learn from such discoveries in the modern era?

How do Popper’s theories about scientific progress relate to his theories about political and social development? How does his analysis of one sphere of human experience illuminate his ideas about the other?

What is the fundamental difference between science and pseudo-science, according to Popper? What are the strengths and weaknesses of Popper’s analysis in differentiating between the two?

Describe Popper’s theory on falsifiability. Why it is useful for finding the truth of things? What limitations, if any, does this theory have?

Examine Popper’s thought in relation to one of his philosophical contemporaries. What are the differences and similarities between the two thinkers? What key ideas or preoccupations do they share?

How does Popper characterize historicism? What is its wider significance in Popper’s thought?

Popper firmly believes in both rationality and tradition. How does he reconcile these two values, and why are they both necessary to the proper functioning of a society? What other values or ideas do you believe Popper may have overlooked in his analysis?