SCIE1000
PHILOSOPHY ASSIGNMENT (15%)
“REFLECTIONS ON SCIENTIFIC METHOD”
Philosophy Assessment – Semester 2 2020
A 1000 word essay (+/-10%, including everything but quotes and the bibliography) that reflects on
the scientific method.
Due: 09

October, 12:00pm
Submission: Electronic copy via Turnitin (on Course Blackboard Site)
There is a famous quote often attributed to Albert Einstein that says:
“No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me
wrong.”
There is some dispute about whether Einstein ever said this, but it might reflect his sentiments as
more accurately cited in the book Mathematical Problems in Elasticity (Remigio Russo 1996):
“At this time the anti-relativity clique in Germany […] published a book called 100 Authors
Against Einstein. Einstein informed that press that if relativity was wrong they would only
need one author.”
These quotes capture an important aspect of the Popperian hypothetico-deductive account of
science: knowledge comes from experimental falsification of a hypothesis rather than from
experimental confirmation of one.
Do one (and only one) of the following tasks:
Essay 1: Falsificationism and Inductivism
Explain how an inductivist might respond to this claim regarding falsification and
knowledge. Do you agree with this response? Explain and justify your answer. In doing so,
consider to what extent inductivists and Popperians have mutually exclusive ideals of what
makes science rational, or whether they are, in some way, complementary.
OR
Essay 2: Falsificationism and Kuhn
Explain how a Kuhnian might respond to this claim regarding falsification and knowledge.
Do you agree with this response? Explain and justify your answer. In doing so, consider to
what extent Kuhnians and Popperians have mutually exclusive views about the rationality
of science, or whether they are, in some way, complementary.

The essay will be assessed in accordance with the Criteria and Marking Sheet used in the Week 7
philosophy tutorial (and also on Blackboard under Learning Resources).
NB:
I. In addition to simply coming to grips with the relevant issues for discussion, a major
challenge will be to describe and respond to the issue with only 1000 words in which to do
so. Be clear, concise and stay on topic. (You may not be able to say all you want to, and
may need to carefully choose what you think is most important to convey to your reader
what the problems are and what, on reflection, you think of them.)
II. Students will not be penalised for drawing only on the Lecture Notes. (Of course, further
research may help you better understand key points and arguments but is not required.
Some videos and articles have been provided in the learning resource area.)
III. When referencing Lecture Notes (or other material), any standard referencing
convention is acceptable – e.g. “SCIE1000 Lectures Notes (2016), p. 207.”.
IV. When submitting through Turnitin, there will only be one submission accepted.
Multiple submissions to check text matching, etc. are not permitted.
Peter Ellerton ([email protected])
Joel Katzav ([email protected])

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