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Lakatos Birth
Imre Lakatos was born in 1922 in Debrecen, Hungary. -
Lakatos Early Life and Education
Lakatos studied mathematics, physics, and philosophy at the University of Debrecen. In 1956 Lakatos fled to Vienna when Hungary was invaded by the Soviet Union. While there he earned his PhD in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. -
The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes
His work "MSRP" was first published in 1963 Lakatos, Imre. The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes: Volume 1: Philosophical Papers. Cambridge UP, 1963. -
MSRP pt.1
Imre Lakatos made several contributions to the field of philosophy of science. In 1968 he wrote one of his more notable contributions, “Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes” or known as MSRP. He was sometimes called in the philosophy community as the disciple of Karl Popper. In his MSRP he attempted to expand and refine Popper’s theory about falsifiability and his demarcation criterion. The argument between science and non-science led to a theory of scientific rationality. -
MSRP pt.2
Some argued that Lakatos’ ideas held more relevance and were more realistic than Popper’s. The problem Lakatos saw with Popper’s theory was that a theory can only be scientific if it can be empirically falsifiable. Lakatos felt that for a theory to be scientific it must be highly falsifiable, though well tested it need to be unfalsified. (Musgrave) Lakatos says that Popper’s theory is too restrictive and would lead to unscientific and irrational results -
MSRP pt.3
He felt that if scientists were overly consumed with trying to refute others theories then they themselves and their practices become unscientific. (Musgrave) He wanted to alter the whole thought process of science in that ideas and theories were more consistently approached with a more scientific approach. However, he thought the idea of falsifiability was a good practice. He wanted us to approach falsifiability from a different approach. -
Lakatos Death
Imre Lakatos died in 1974 in London, England. -
Proofs and Refutations
Lakatos' essay "Proofs and Refutations" was published in 1976 Lakatos, Imre. Proofs and Refutations: The Logic of Mathematical Discovery. Cambridge UP, 1976. -
Mathematics, Science, and Epistomology
In 1980 his second volume of Mathematics, Science, Epistomology was published. Lakatos, Imre. Mathematics, Science and Epistemology: Volume 2, Philosophical Papers. Cambridge UP, 1980. -
Citations
Image:
Meydan, Dila. Method of Science. Photograph. 2018. medium.com/@dilameydan/untitled-ecbd86f536de. Accessed 7 Dec. 2019. In-text:
Musgrave, Alan, and Charles Pigden. "Imre Lakatos (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 4 Apr. 2016, plato.stanford.edu/entries/lakatos/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2019.
