Philosophy of Science and Pseudoscience: Evaluating Traditional Knowledge Claims in Contemporary Nigeria

This study examines the philosophy of science and the demarcation problem between science and pseudoscience, applying these philosophical frameworks to the evaluation of traditional knowledge claims in contemporary Nigeria with case studies from the South East and North Central geopolitical zones. The philosophy of science asks fundamental questions about what distinguishes genuine scientific knowledge from pseudoscientific belief, and these questions are particularly pressing in Nigeria where traditional medicinal claims, spiritual healing practices, and indigenous ecological knowledge coexist with biomedical science in complex and contested relationships. Using a descriptive philosophical design, the study engages with Karl Popper's falsificationism, Thomas Kuhn's paradigm theory, Paul Feyerabend's epistemological anarchism, and African philosophy of knowledge, supplemented by secondary literature published between 2020 and 2024. Structured interviews with 20 scientists, traditional knowledge practitioners, and philosophy academics in Enugu and Lokoja inform the primary data. Findings reveal that applying a single demarcation criterion uniformly produces philosophically unjustified dismissals of traditional knowledge systems that contain empirically testable and practically valuable claims alongside untestable metaphysical beliefs. The study argues for a pluralist philosophy of science that evaluates traditional knowledge claims on their own epistemic terms without abandoning critical standards. Keywords: philosophy of science, pseudoscience, traditional knowledge, demarcation, Nigeria.