Lakatos One and Lakatos Two: An Appreciation

Abstract

When I was pondering what I should write about Lakatos in this article, I ran into what seemed an insuperable difficulty. On one hand I thought that part of my job should be to give a portrait of Lakatos’ personal manner. This would be informative from the point of view of history of thought, as it would help people read his works with greater understanding. And it would be interesting, if I succeeded at all: everyone who knew Lakatos would agree that he was one of the most remarkable people they had met. On the other hand memorial essays tend to give portraits which are all sweetness and light. But such a portrait of Lakatos would not be a portrait of Lakatos. Everyone has his dark and his light side; sometimes we see one, occasionally the other. But in Lakatos both were simultaneously and brilliantly displayed at every instant. It would be trying to describe bitter sweet chocolate with the vocabulary for milk chocolate. On the other hand, to give no description at all would be a real loss.