Ebook: Appraising Lakatos: Mathematics, Methodology, and the Man

Imre Lakatos (1922-1974) was one of the protagonists in shaping the "new philosophy of science". More than 25 years after his untimely death, it is time for a critical re-evaluation of his ideas. His main theme of locating rationality within the scientific process appears even more compelling today, after many historical case studies have revealed the cultural and societal elements within scientific practices. Recently there has been, above all, an increasing interest in Lakatos' philosophy of mathematics, which emphasises heuristics and mathematical practice over logical justification. But suitable modifications of his approach are called for in order to make it applicable to modern axiomatised theories.

Pioneering historical research in England and Hungary has unearthed hitherto unknown facts about Lakatos' personal life, his wartime activities and his involvement in the political developments of post-war Europe. From a communist activist committed to Györgyi Lukács' thinking, Lakatos developed into a staunch anti-Marxist who found his intellectual background in Popper's critical rationalism. The volume also publishes for the first time a part of his Debrecen Ph.D. thesis and it is concluded by a bibliography of his Hungarian writings.

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Imre Lakatos (1922-1974) was one of the protagonists in shaping the "new philosophy of science". More than 25 years after his untimely death, it is time for a critical re-evaluation of his ideas. His main theme of locating rationality within the scientific process appears even more compelling today, after many historical case studies have revealed the cultural and societal elements within scientific practices. Recently there has been, above all, an increasing interest in Lakatos' philosophy of mathematics, which emphasises heuristics and mathematical practice over logical justification. But suitable modifications of his approach are called for in order to make it applicable to modern axiomatised theories.

Pioneering historical research in England and Hungary has unearthed hitherto unknown facts about Lakatos' personal life, his wartime activities and his involvement in the political developments of post-war Europe. From a communist activist committed to Gy?rgyi Luk?cs' thinking, Lakatos developed into a staunch anti-Marxist who found his intellectual background in Popper's critical rationalism. The volume also publishes for the first time a part of his Debrecen Ph.D. thesis and it is concluded by a bibliography of his Hungarian writings.

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Imre Lakatos (1922-1974) was one of the protagonists in shaping the "new philosophy of science". More than 25 years after his untimely death, it is time for a critical re-evaluation of his ideas. His main theme of locating rationality within the scientific process appears even more compelling today, after many historical case studies have revealed the cultural and societal elements within scientific practices. Recently there has been, above all, an increasing interest in Lakatos' philosophy of mathematics, which emphasises heuristics and mathematical practice over logical justification. But suitable modifications of his approach are called for in order to make it applicable to modern axiomatised theories.

Pioneering historical research in England and Hungary has unearthed hitherto unknown facts about Lakatos' personal life, his wartime activities and his involvement in the political developments of post-war Europe. From a communist activist committed to Gy?rgyi Luk?cs' thinking, Lakatos developed into a staunch anti-Marxist who found his intellectual background in Popper's critical rationalism. The volume also publishes for the first time a part of his Debrecen Ph.D. thesis and it is concluded by a bibliography of his Hungarian writings.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiv
Front Matter....Pages 1-2
The Propositional Content of the Popper-Lakatos Rift....Pages 3-12
Lakatos’ Criticisms Of Popper....Pages 13-22
Professor Lakatos Between the Hegelian Devil and the Popperian Deep Blue Sea....Pages 23-52
Explaining Scientific Progress: Lakatos’ Methodological Account of Kuhnian Patterns of Theory Change....Pages 53-71
Lakatos, Reason and History....Pages 73-83
“Heuristic Power” and the “Logic of Scientific Discovery”: Why the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes is Less Than Half the Story....Pages 85-99
Lakatos on Crucial Experiments and the History of Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics....Pages 101-111
Front Matter....Pages 113-114
Argumentation and the Mathematical Process....Pages 115-138
Towards an Evolutionary Account of Conceptual Change in Mathematics: Proofs and Refutations and the Axiomatic Variation of Concepts....Pages 139-156
What Lakatos Could Teach the Mathematical Physicist....Pages 157-187
Lakatos’ Mitigated Scepticism in the Philosophy of Mathematics....Pages 189-210
Lakatos’ Methodology Between Logic and Dialectic....Pages 211-241
Mathematical Heuristic — Lakatos and P?lya....Pages 243-254
Lakatos and Aspects of Mathematics Education....Pages 255-260
Front Matter....Pages 261-262
The Unforgiven: Imre Lakatos’ Life in Hungary....Pages 263-302
Lakatos and Luk?cs....Pages 303-338
Lakatos’ Political Reawakening....Pages 339-349
Front Matter....Pages 351-351
A Documentation Arranged by G?bor Kutrov?tz....Pages 353-374
Back Matter....Pages 375-382

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Imre Lakatos (1922-1974) was one of the protagonists in shaping the "new philosophy of science". More than 25 years after his untimely death, it is time for a critical re-evaluation of his ideas. His main theme of locating rationality within the scientific process appears even more compelling today, after many historical case studies have revealed the cultural and societal elements within scientific practices. Recently there has been, above all, an increasing interest in Lakatos' philosophy of mathematics, which emphasises heuristics and mathematical practice over logical justification. But suitable modifications of his approach are called for in order to make it applicable to modern axiomatised theories.

Pioneering historical research in England and Hungary has unearthed hitherto unknown facts about Lakatos' personal life, his wartime activities and his involvement in the political developments of post-war Europe. From a communist activist committed to Gy?rgyi Luk?cs' thinking, Lakatos developed into a staunch anti-Marxist who found his intellectual background in Popper's critical rationalism. The volume also publishes for the first time a part of his Debrecen Ph.D. thesis and it is concluded by a bibliography of his Hungarian writings.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiv
Front Matter....Pages 1-2
The Propositional Content of the Popper-Lakatos Rift....Pages 3-12
Lakatos’ Criticisms Of Popper....Pages 13-22
Professor Lakatos Between the Hegelian Devil and the Popperian Deep Blue Sea....Pages 23-52
Explaining Scientific Progress: Lakatos’ Methodological Account of Kuhnian Patterns of Theory Change....Pages 53-71
Lakatos, Reason and History....Pages 73-83
“Heuristic Power” and the “Logic of Scientific Discovery”: Why the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes is Less Than Half the Story....Pages 85-99
Lakatos on Crucial Experiments and the History of Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics....Pages 101-111
Front Matter....Pages 113-114
Argumentation and the Mathematical Process....Pages 115-138
Towards an Evolutionary Account of Conceptual Change in Mathematics: Proofs and Refutations and the Axiomatic Variation of Concepts....Pages 139-156
What Lakatos Could Teach the Mathematical Physicist....Pages 157-187
Lakatos’ Mitigated Scepticism in the Philosophy of Mathematics....Pages 189-210
Lakatos’ Methodology Between Logic and Dialectic....Pages 211-241
Mathematical Heuristic — Lakatos and P?lya....Pages 243-254
Lakatos and Aspects of Mathematics Education....Pages 255-260
Front Matter....Pages 261-262
The Unforgiven: Imre Lakatos’ Life in Hungary....Pages 263-302
Lakatos and Luk?cs....Pages 303-338
Lakatos’ Political Reawakening....Pages 339-349
Front Matter....Pages 351-351
A Documentation Arranged by G?bor Kutrov?tz....Pages 353-374
Back Matter....Pages 375-382
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