Episode 63: Philosophy of science

Episode 63: Philosophy of science

Author: Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie February 4, 2025 Duration: 1:10:24

It had to happen eventually: this week The Studies Show is all about philosophy. As we look at science in general, how do we decide what those studies are actually showing?

Tom and Stuart take a look at the Big Two of philosophy of science: Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn, with their respective theories of falsificationism and paradigm shifts. Both are theories that almost everyone interested in science has heard of—but both make far more extreme claims than you might think.

The Studies Show is sponsored by Works in Progress magazine, the best place to go online for fact-rich, data-dense articles on science and technology, and how they’ve made the world a better place—or how they might do so in the future. To find all their essays, all for free, go to worksinprogress.co.

Show notes

* Tom’s new book, Everything is Predictable: How Bayes’ Remarkable Theorem Explains the World

* Wagenmakers’s 2020 study asking scientists how they think about scientific claims

* David Hume’s 1748 Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

* Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on the problem of induction

* Bertrand Russell’s 1946 book History of Western Philosophy

* Popper’s 1959 book The Logic of Scientific Discovery

* Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on Popper

* Kuhn’s 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

* Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on Kuhn

* 2019 Scott Alexander review of the book

* Michael Strevens’s 2020 book The Knowledge Machine

* Daniel Lakens’s Coursera course on “improving your statistical inferences

Credits

The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com/subscribe

Every week, Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie pull apart the biggest arguments and most confusing claims making headlines. Science Fictions isn't just about celebrating breakthroughs; it's a necessary dive into the messy, contested, and often surprising realities of how science actually works. You'll hear them unpack heated debates, examine questionable studies, and explore why even solid research can sometimes lead to public confusion. This podcast serves as a guide through the noise, separating compelling evidence from overblown narratives. Each episode feels like a conversation with two deeply informed friends who aren't afraid to ask tough questions, offering clarity on topics that matter. For anyone curious about the stories behind the science headlines, this is an essential listen. Tune in for thoughtful analysis that goes beyond the press release, grounded in a genuine fascination with how we know what we know.
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