Skip to main content

Rules Against Mock-Criticism

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Popper and His Popular Critics

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Philosophy ((BRIEFSPHILOSOPH))

  • 1687 Accesses

Abstract

Popper’s popular critics made use of the truism that every criticism is answerable, provided that even unsatisfactory rebuttals count as rebuttals. By the same token, every thesis is refuted, provided even unsatisfactory refutations count as refutations. This is a standoff. Hence it is advisable to set some standards for criticism, to bar arguments—refutations and rebuttals—that are too obviously unsatisfactory. We need rules of fair play. Fair play will benefit us all.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Ayer, A.J., ed. 1959. Logical positivism.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carnap, Rudolf. 1936, 1950. Testability and meaning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hempel, Carl Gustav. 2000. Selected philosophical essays, edited by Richard Jeffrey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, K.R. 1959. The logic of scientific discovery.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, K.R., and D.W. Miller. 1983. A proof of the impossibility of inductive probability. Nature, 302: 687–688.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, Bertrand. 1912. The problems of philosophy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salmon, Wesley. 1979. The foundations of scientific inference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlick, Moritz. 1934. The foundations of knowledge, Erkenntnis, 4, English translation in Ayer, 1959, 209–227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stein, Gertrude. 1974. How writing is written.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, L.P. 1965. Michael faraday: A biography.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joseph Agassi .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Agassi, J. (2014). Rules Against Mock-Criticism. In: Popper and His Popular Critics. SpringerBriefs in Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06587-8_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics