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Definition:
The term "theory" has two meanings - a general meaning used in common
vernacular and a technical meaning used in science.
The vernacular sense of the word is "an assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture."
Science's usage of the term is more technical: "A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena."
It is not unusual for these two senses to be mixed up in an argument, thus creating a Fallacy of Equivocation.
For people who value critical thinking, it is important to test theories against observations made in the real world and see if they make any predictions which come true.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
Related Resources:
What is the Philosophy of Science?
The Philosophy of Science is concerned with, obviously enough, science - specifically, how science operates, what the goals of science should be, what relationship science should have with the rest of society, the differences between science and other activities, etc. Everything that happens in science has some relationship with the Philosophy of Science and is predicated upon some philosophical position, even though that may be rarely evident.What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?
