Week 1: reason · epistemology
Fallibilism vs justificationism
Reject the demand to 'justify' knowledge; accept that all theories are tentative and open to criticism.
In this lesson
- Read the core idea (2 min).
- Walk through one worked example.
- Take the 4-question quiz; pass with 4/4 or better.
Hook
Most arguments you encounter are arguments about justification: who has proved their case, who has the burden of proof, whose claim is 'unsupported'. Popper's most subversive move was to point out that the entire framing is broken.
No claim, ever, has been or will be 'justified' in the demanded sense. That sounds bleak — but the alternative he proposed is the engine of every working scientific tradition, and it changes how you read every disagreement you encounter.