PrepTest 155, Section 4, Question 24
A theory cannot properly be regarded as empirical(15 more words not shown)
The principle above most helps(7 more words not shown)
- ASince no one(21 more words not shown)
- BSince set theory(14 more words not shown)
- CPsychoanalysis is such(20 more words not shown)
- DThere are conceivable(13 more words not shown)
- EThe theory of(21 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What observation could show the theory is wrong? Under the rule we're given, an empirical theory must leave room for some conceivable observation that would refute it if it were false. A theory that can accommodate absolutely anything anyone might observe fails that requirement.
What we’re looking for
That's a requirement, not a guarantee. Finding a possible way to refute a theory doesn't by itself establish that the theory is empirical; the rule hasn't told us that this is the only condition. For the application question, the clearest route is to find a theory that lacks the required possibility of refutation and conclude that it isn't empirical.
Working the answers
- A
Nobody being present at the universe's origin doesn't establish that no observation could ever count against a theory of that origin. We might observe later evidence, such as the universe's expansion, that bears on an account of what happened earlier. The answer would need to rule out conceivable refuting observations, not just original eyewitnesses. It hasn't done that.
- B
A theory's being nonempirical doesn't tell us that it lacks this particular requirement. It could fail to qualify for some other reason while still allowing a conceivable refuting observation. The rule says empirical theories must have the feature; it doesn't say every theory with the feature is empirical or that all nonempirical theories lack it.
- CCorrect
No conceivable observation could show this theory to be false. That directly rules out the feature the principle requires of an empirical theory. So, under the given description of psychoanalysis, it cannot properly be regarded as empirical. We simply apply the rule to the absence of its required condition.
- D
Quantum theory meets the stated requirement, but meeting a requirement doesn't guarantee qualification. The principle tells us something an empirical theory must allow. It doesn't tell us that allowing a refuting observation is enough, by itself, to make a theory empirical. D treats the requirement as a complete test.
- E
Empirical and true are different descriptions. The rule concerns whether a theory permits a conceivable observation that would refute it, not whether the theory has already been proved true. A theory could have possible tests and not yet have been refuted without being guaranteed true. E's conclusion goes beyond what the principle addresses.
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