Summary Of "History Of Science" By Imre Lakatos: UNIVERSITY SUMMARIES

By MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

We have summarized the essential of this book by the author.

"The philosophy of science without a history of science is empty; the history of science without philosophy of science is blind "(Kant).

The relationship between historiography and philosophy of science is profound:

1) The philosophy of science provides normative methodologies in terms of which the historian reconstructs the "internal history" and thus offers a rational explanation for the development of knowledge.
2) Two competing methodology can be evaluated with the help of history.
3) Any rational reconstruction of history has to be complemented by an "external history".

• Language: English
• Publisher: BOOKS AND SUMMARIES BY MAURICIO FAU
• Release date: Dec 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201933777

MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

Mauricio Enrique Fau nació en Buenos Aires en 1965. Se recibió de Licenciado en Ciencia Política en la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Cursó también Derecho en la UBA y Periodismo en la Universidad de Morón. Realizó estudios en FLACSO Argentina. Docente de la UBA y AUTOR DE MÁS DE 3.000 RESÚMENES de Psicología, Sociología, Ciencia Política, Antropología, Derecho, Historia, Epistemología, Lógica, Filosofía, Economía, Semiología, Educación y demás disciplinas de las Ciencias Sociales. Desde 2005 dirige La Bisagra Editorial, especializada en técnicas de estudio y materiales que facilitan la transición desde la escuela secundaria a la universidad. Por intermedio de La Bisagra publicó 38 libros. Participa en diversas ferias del libro, entre ellas la Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires y la FIL Guadalajara.

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Summary Of History Of Science By Imre Lakatos

UNIVERSITY SUMMARIES

MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

Published by BOOKS AND SUMMARIES BY MAURICIO FAU, 2021.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

SUMMARY OF HISTORY OF SCIENCE BY IMRE LAKATOS

First edition. December 13, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU.

ISBN: 979-8201933777

Written by MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Lakatos, Imre

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Further Reading: Summary Of The Roots And The Fruits: Topics Of Philosophy Of Science By Eduardo Flichman

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About the Author

About the Publisher

Lakatos, Imre

The history of science

CHAPTER 5 The history of science and its rational reconstructions

Introduction

The philosophy of science without a history of science is empty; the history of science without philosophy of science is blind (Kant).

The relationship between historiography and philosophy of science is profound:

1) The philosophy of science provides normative methodologies in terms of which the historian reconstructs the internal history and thus offers a rational explanation for the development of knowledge.

2) Two competing methodology can be evaluated with the help of history.

3) Any rational reconstruction of history has to be complemented by an external history.

Rival Methodologies in Science; rational reconstructions as guides to history

Although two centuries ago methodology was understood to be a set of fixed rules to solve problems, today it is considered a set of rules that evaluate theories already formulated and articulated and that serve as theories of scientific rationality:

1. Inductivism

It is a scientific methodology that holds that there are only two types of genuine scientific discoveries: hard factual propositions and infallible inductive generalizations based on them. But the inductivist historian cannot offer a rational internal explanation of why certain facts, and not others, were selected to begin with. For him, this is a non-rational, empirical and external problem; the choice of problems is determined by innate or arbitrarily chosen theoretical (or metaphysical) frameworks.

Radical inductivists condemn all external influences.

2. Conventionality

It organizes the facts into a coherent whole that it can abandon in the so-called revolutions if it finds a simpler system to replace it (The Copernican revolution is the paradigmatic case of a scientific revolution for conventionalism). Unlike inductivism, it does not need valid inductive inferences; the authentic progress of science is cumulative and takes place at the level of proven facts, furthermore, it accepts factual propositions by decision and not by experiment. Conventionalists do not forbid unsubstantiated speculation, they allow an organizing system to be built from any fanciful idea, and they do not consider discarded systems unscientific.

Conventionalism is based on the recognition that false assumptions can have true consequences (Popper). Instrumentalism (a degenerate version of conventionalism) arises from not being able to understand the relationships between true and false propositions and considers theories as neither true nor false but only as instruments for prediction. Like inductivism, conventionalism cannot rationally explain why certain criteria were chosen