The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes — Companion¶
Imre Lakatos's answer to the Popper–Kuhn war: science is rational, but the unit of rationality is not the theory — it's the research programme, a long campaign with a protected hard core, an adjustable belt, and a battle plan. Progress means predicting novel facts; degeneration means explaining yesterday. This companion is organized by concept rather than by the book's dense paper-structure.
Each concept page includes an audio overview, a start infographic (read before), and a shift infographic (read after).
The 9 Concepts¶
| # | Concept | Core Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Problem: Rescuing Rationality | Judge trajectories, not snapshots |
| 2 | Sophisticated Falsificationism | No falsification without a better rival |
| 3 | The Research Programme | Science as long-running campaigns with structure |
| 4 | The Hard Core | Protect foundations by explicit decision |
| 5 | The Protective Belt | Route anomalies to the adjustable periphery |
| 6 | The Positive Heuristic | Plan the sequence of better models |
| 7 | Progressive vs Degenerating | Predicting novelty vs explaining away |
| 8 | No Instant Rationality | Verdicts are retrospective; keep honest score |
| 9 | History and Methodology | Test methodologies against history itself |
The Architecture¶
Hard core (protected by the negative heuristic) → protective belt (absorbs refutation) → positive heuristic (plans the belt's evolution) → scored as progressive or degenerating over time.
Master Themes¶
- Trajectory over snapshot — everything is anomaly-ridden; growth is the test
- Refutation requires a rival — grievances don't kill frameworks, alternatives do
- Protection is a policy — tenacity as strategy, with an expiry condition
- Novel facts are the currency — a few stunning predictions outweigh oceans of accommodation
- Rationality runs slow — honest scorekeeping, not instant verdicts
Study Guides¶
Condensed study guides per concept — key terms, checklists, self-tests.
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