Manifest Fact
Mahner and Bunge (1997), Bock (2007), and Fitzhugh (2007) claim that it is a fundamental violation of the scientific method to suggest that empirically corroborated observations, hypotheses, or theories could become a fact. These evolutionary biologists and philosophers of science share a common understanding of what can be called a manifest fact, whereby: "confirming evidence cannot change the status of a hypothesis to a fact." The alternative practice, claiming that facts are identified through empirical inference, is "rampant in the philosophy of biology" Stating that "evolution is a fact" is an inexact reference to multiple hypotheses and theories. However, evolution may be considered a manifest fact, but only as the subject of reference stemming from numerous explanatory hypotheses; it is necessary to parcel the different branches in the tree of life to test specific claims (e.g., homology) in reference to the evolution of specific lineages. Philosopher Karl Popper referred to evolution in these terms:
What we call the evolutionary hypothesis is an explanation of a host of biological and paleontological observations--for instance, of certain similarities between various species and genera--by the assumption of common ancestry of related forms. This hypothesis is not a universal law, even though certain universal laws of nature, such as laws of heredity, segregation, and mutation, enter with it into the explanation. It has rather, the characteristic of a particular (singular or specific) historical statement...I see in modern Darwinism the most successful explanation of the relevant facts.
Hypotheses and theories are fallible, theory-laden constructs. Such fallibility does not, however, apply to facts, since facts merely exist regardless of their being perceived. The basis for testing is to evaluate the veracity of our claims regarding facts.
Kirk J. Fitzhugh (2007)Read more about this topic: Evolution As Fact And Theory, Evolution, Fact and Theory, Fact
Famous quotes containing the words manifest and/or fact:
“There are obvious places in which government can narrow the chasm between haves and have-nots. One is the public schools, which have been seen as the great leveler, the authentic melting pot. That, today, is nonsense. In his scathing study of the nation’s public school system entitled “Savage Inequalities,” Jonathan Kozol made manifest the truth: that we have a system that discriminates against the poor in everything from class size to curriculum.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“The horror of Gandhi’s murder lies not in the political motives behind it or in its consequences for Indian policy or for the future of non-violence; the horror lies simply in the fact that any man could look into the face of this extraordinary person and deliberately pull a trigger.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)