Study Guide: Concept 9 — History and Methodology

Core Concept

Methodologies are research programmes; history is their test. Meta-criterion: the best methodology reconstructs the most great science as rational (internal history), leaving the least residue to sociology (external history).

Key Terms

Internal/external history · meta-criterion · rational reconstruction · footnote discipline

Case Summary

Lakatos's provocation: rational reconstruction in the text, actual deviations in the footnotes. The caricature measures how much of the record reason can claim.

Application Checklist

• [ ] Test your decision framework against your three best past calls
• [ ] Keep footnotes: where wins deviated from the official method
• [ ] Measure the framework's residue honestly — size of the footnotes

Self-Test

1. How does self-application answer the standards-regress?
2. What splits internal from external history?
3. Feyerabend's circularity charge against the meta-criterion?