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In science and philosophy, an ''ad hoc'' hypothesis is a hypothesis added to a theory in order to save it from being falsified. ''Ad hoc'' hypothesizing is compensating for anomalies not anticipated by the theory in its unmodified form. ==In the scientific community== Scientists are often skeptical of theories that rely on frequent, unsupported adjustments to sustain them. This is because, if a theorist so chooses, there is no limit to the number of ''ad hoc'' hypotheses that they could add. Thus the theory becomes more and more complex, but is never falsified. This is often at a cost to the theory's predictive power, however.〔 ''Ad hoc'' hypotheses are often characteristic of pseudoscientific subjects.〔Carroll, Robert T. "Ad hoc hypothesis." ''The Skeptic's Dictionary''. 22 Jun. 2008 An ''ad hoc'' hypothesis is not necessarily incorrect; in some cases, a minor change to a theory was all that was necessary. For example, Albert Einstein's addition of the cosmological constant to general relativity in order to allow a static universe was ''ad hoc''. Although he later referred to it as his "greatest blunder", it may correspond to theories of dark energy.〔 Texas A&M University. "Einstein's Biggest Blunder? Dark Energy May Be Consistent With Cosmological Constant." ''ScienceDaily'' 28 November 2007. 22 June 2008 Naturally, some gaps in knowledge, and even falsifying observations must be temporarily tolerated while research continues. To temper ''ad hoc'' hypothesizing in science, common practice includes falsificationism (somewhat in the philosophy of Occam's razor). Falsificationism means scientists become more likely to reject a theory as it becomes increasingly burdened by ignored falsifying observations and ''ad hoc'' hypotheses. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ad hoc hypothesis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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