Hypotheses (Continued)

Hypothesis, theory, law - What's the difference?

Irving Copi explains this the best;

The vocabulary of "hypothesis," "theory," and "law" is unfortunate, since it obscures the important fact that all of the general propositions of science are regarded as hypotheses, never as dogmas. (Copi, 468)

All hypotheses (including laws and theories) take the logical form discussed above. Scientific theories are designed to give the best explanation. They are probabilistic. So even the law of gravity could theoretically fail tomorrow. It is unlikely, but there is noting that says it must work the same way forever and ever. We think it will, simply because it has done so consistently in the past. This is classic induction. We are predicting future events based on past events, but no future event is logically necessary (not even death and taxes).

Continue for more on hypotheses.