Two Critics of Logical Positivism: Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn

Abstract

Criticisms of the understanding of science and philosophy put forward by logical positivism are varied. Some of them are philosophers who, with a radical objection, reject almost all the principles of positivism and claim that a philosophy that excludes metaphysics will cease to be philosophy. On the other hand, there have been philosophers who have not completely abandoned the ideal of scientific thought, but have proposed different criteria or perspectives, stating that the principles of Logical positivism are wrong. In this study, we will discuss the thoughts of Karl Popper, who offers alternative perspectives on the nature, validity and limits of scientific knowledge, and Thomas Kuhn, who criticized Popper as well as positivists, which we can include in the second group. Keywords: Logical Positivism, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Falsificationism, Paradigm Shift.