Why did Claude Bernard believe experiments should be guided by hypotheses?

Claude Bernard believed that experiments must be guided by a hypothesis because he viewed it as an essential tool for scientific progress. He argued that an experimenter requires a guiding hypothesis that can be either confirmed or refuted by the results of their work.1

This approach marked a significant departure from the purely empirical method—often associated with his predecessor, François Magendie—which involved conducting experiments without a guiding hypothesis. By advocating for the use of hypotheses, Bernard helped establish rigorous principles for experimentation in the life sciences, moving the field beyond the indeterminism of earlier physiologists and laying the foundation for modern experimental medicine.12