KARL POPPER'S CONCEPT OF SCIENTIFIC CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
Abstract
The reality of change is an inevitable fact in the universe. Almost everything in the universe is subject to change. In the scientific world, change is constant. Thus, scientific theories change constantly. The nature of scientific change and development has attracted serious philosophical attention. Karl Popper argues that scientific theories change and develop continuously. Such development occurs when an existing scientific theory is refuted, and subsequently replaced by a more testable one. Scientific theories must ever be subjected to critical tests. Hence, scientific development has no end, and there is no final truth in science. The researcher argues that Popper's idea of scientific change and development has implications for cultural development. Culture is not stagnant, and so, cultural practicesought to be ever changing and developing. However, some societies find it very difficult to question, and subsequently change some aspects of their culture. This article employs analytical and hermeneutical methods of philosophical enquiry to examine the implications of Popper's idea of scientific change and development for cultural development. It discovers that, following Karl Popper's idea of scientific development, no cultural practice can be said to be final. Hence, cultural practices should be subjected to continuous critical tests so as to foster continuous cultural development, and at the same time eliminate oppressive cultural practices.