Philosophers Index Abstract- The problem of demarcation is not simply a philosophical one: one can easily show that it has also grave ethical and political implications.
- Different solutions to the problem have been proposed so far, but they all turned out to be insufficient.
- The "methodology of scientific research programmes" solves some of the difficulties into which other methodologies have led.
Editors’ introduction1- In an important paper2, Lakatos put forward his view that the key to the demarcation between science and pseudo-science lies in the distinction between progressive research programmes and degenerating ones.
- As against Karl Popper he allows that any scientific research programme has a ‘hard core' which is belted against falsification by auxiliary hypotheses. According to Lakatos it is this protective belt which is adjusted in the light of unfavourable results.
- These adjustments will lead, in the case of a progressive programme, to an increase in the content of the theory whereas, in the case of a degenerating programme, the theory becomes increasingly trivial and empty.
- Lakatos insists, contrary to Thomas Kuhn, that the changeover from one programme to another is a wholly rational process even though it lacks the ‘instant rationality’ of a Popperian refutation.
- The following extract3 is a radio talk given by Lakatos for an Open University course. It is an informal account of his position and includes some exaggeration natural to the spoken word.
Comment:
Also in "Brown (Stuart), Fauvel (John) & Finnegan (Ruth), Eds. - Conceptions of Inquiry" (full text, with editorial introduction).
In-Page Footnotes
Footnote 1: Footnote 2: Footnote 3: - It’s the complete text, as far as I can see.
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