Popper, Lakatos, and the Transcendence of the Deductive Model

Abstract

One criticism of Popper’s view that is suggested in the writings of Thomas Kuhn is that in actual science a theory is never rejected unless there is another theory to take its place.¹ Imre Lakatos recognizes a problem of this sort, but does not follow the path indicated by Kuhn, for he sees it as implying that theory change is an irrational process which can be analyzed solely from within the realm of (social) psychology.² The alternative Lakatos thus chooses is to develop further Popper’s conception in the context of the Deductive Model³ in an attempt to “escape Kuhn’s strictures and present scientific revolutions not as constituting religious [sic] conversions but rather as rational progress.”⁴