It would be wrong to assume that one must stay with a research programme until it has exhausted all its heuristic power, that one must not introduce a rival programme before everybody agrees that the point of degeneration has probably been reached.
No experimental result can ever kill a theory: any theory can be saved from counterinstances either by some auxiliary hypothesis or by a suitable reinterpretation of its terms.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that theories can always be defended despite counter-evidence through additional hypotheses or reinterpretation.
Imre Lakatos, in his quote, points out a fundamental aspect of scientific theory: that no empirical result can definitively disprove a theory. Instead, when faced with contradictions, proponents of a theory can introduce supplementary hypotheses or reinterpret existing terms to defend their stance. This highlights the resilience and adaptability of scientific theories, emphasizing that they are often upheld not just by evidence, but also by the intellectual frameworks that surround them.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on scientific method, this quote can be used to emphasize how theories are defended.
More from Imre Lakatos
All quotes βIf even in science there is no a way of judging a theory but by assessing the number, faith and vocal energy of its supporters, then this must be even more so in the social sciences: truth lies in power.
Blind commitment to a theory is not an intellectual virtue: it is an intellectual crime.
Philosophy of science without history of science is empty; history of science without philosophy of science is blind.
It is not that we propose a theory and Nature may shout NO; rather, we propose a maze of theories, and Nature may shout INCONSISTENT.
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All human problems are ultimately symptoms, and our separation from God is the cause.
Many things, for aught I know, may exist, whereof neither I nor any other man hath or can have any idea or notion whatsoever.
In the end, one or the other will triumph - a funeral dirge will be sung over the Soviet republic or over world capitalism.
After reading all that has been written, and after thinking all that can be thought, on the topics of God and the soul, the man who has a right to say that he thinks at all, will find himself face to face with the conclusion that, on these topics, the most profound thought is that which can be the least easily distinguished from the most superficial sentiment.
You can only hear clearly when you sit quietly, when you give your attention. Nor can you have order if you are not free to watch, if you are not free to listen, if you are not free to be considerate. This problem of freedom and order is one of the most difficult and urgent problems in life. It is a very complex problem. It needs to be thought over much more than mathematics, geography, or history.