Prior to Darwin the practice of science was known as “natural philosophy” and the goal was similar to most other Western philosophy at the time: arriving at a better knowledge of God, in this case, through His creation. The idea of “truth” is mean... read more
A scientific theory is accepted as a theory because it can explain the results of experiments and observations that the theory predicts. Sometimes it happens, however, that a new series of observations or evidence undermines the theory, and then the theory needs to be discarded in favor of a new one. read more
Generally speaking, there is no hard and fast rule to when a theory becomes 'accepted truth' but Kuhn's paradigm idea is a decent fit. Scientific truth is implicitly assumed when an entire field, other than a few fringe scientists, reaches a consensus. read more
Scientific objectivity presupposes that there is one truth, a collective truth, and our personal beliefs or the beliefs of scientists of a particular time either match these truths or they do not. Most scientists assume that beliefs about what is real do not affect what is real. read more