Who is Imre Lakatos? (1922-1974)
Imre Lakatos (1922-1974) tackled scientific bias head-on by sanctioning the ability to ignore it for a reasonable amount of time.
He agreed with Thomas Kuhn that scientists operate inside paradigms and like Kuhn, he felt that scientists should be allowed freedom to work within a paradigm without worrying about whether their paradigm was literally true. He coined the phrase “research program” to formalize this thought.[1] The idea behind a research program is that scientists should be allowed freedom to properly develop a hypothesis. The hypothesis is considered the “hard core” of a program.
Additional hypothesis that supplement the hard core become the “protective belt” of the program. “Scientists are advised not to tinker with the hard core of the program in which they work. If a scientist does modify the hard core then he or she has, in effect, opted out of the program.”[2]
Lakatos believed that each research program must be given adequate time to realize its potential. But while the program is underway, the hard core is effectively rendered unfalsifiable by scientists within the program.
In this way, science can progress, despite the problem of uncertainty.
Why is Thomas Kuhn Important?
Lakatos’ work, along with that of Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn, illustrate there are serious limitations with science. It is important to discuss these limitations when exploring the creation debate.
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