Blackwell Reference Online

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P hilosophy of science [Latin experimentum crucis ] A term introduced by Francis Bacon in Novum Organon . At a certain stage of scientific development, two rival hypotheses appear to have equal explanatory power. When this occurs, it is of great importance that scientists should devise an experiment that can play a decisive role in determining which one of rival scientific theories should be refuted or accepted. Eddington's measurement of the gravitational bending of light rays during a solar eclipse was crucial in the debate between Einstein 's general relativity and Newtonian mechanics. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the notion of a crucial experiment has become an important topic in the discussion of scientific methodology. Some, like Duhem , argue that a crucial verifying experiment is impossible. Others, like Popper , believe that a crucial experiment functions decisively in falsifying one of the rival theories. Still others, like Lakatos , suggest that a crucial experiment cannot be final in overthrowing a theory, although it may be an indication of the progress or demise of a research program. “In most cases we have, before falsifying a hypothesis, another one up our sleeves; for the falsifying experiment is usually a crucial experiment designed to decide between the two. That is to say, it is suggested by the fact that the two hypotheses differ in ... log in or subscribe to read full text